Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC Invests $569,000 in Sempra Energy $SRE

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $569,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 39,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,579,000 after purchasing an additional 1,821 shares during the period. Motco raised its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 1,945.8% in the third quarter. Motco now owns 491 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls bought a new stake in Sempra Energy during the third quarter valued at $209,000. Pacific Wealth Management purchased a new position in Sempra Energy during the third quarter worth about $258,000. Finally, PDS Planning Inc increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price target on Sempra Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $101.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th. UBS Group set a $96.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.17.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 2.0%

SRE stock opened at $88.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.49 billion, a PE ratio of 27.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.59. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.72. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $90.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.65.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 8.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 11th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 79.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 7,564 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.29, for a total transaction of $698,081.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 41,280 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,731.20. This represents a 15.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.38, for a total value of $137,983.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 3,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $318,093.78. The trade was a 30.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,396 shares of company stock worth $1,785,606. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Company Profile

Sempra Energy is a San Diego–based energy infrastructure company that develops, owns and operates businesses delivering electricity and natural gas. Its operations include regulated utility services that provide electric and gas distribution to residential, commercial and industrial customers, as well as non‑regulated infrastructure businesses that develop and manage large-scale energy assets.

The company’s product and service portfolio spans electricity and natural gas delivery, transmission and storage, liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, power generation and electric transmission projects.