Groupama Asset Managment Increases Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 6.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 513,716 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 31,016 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment owned approximately 0.08% of Sempra Energy worth $38,714,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 24.4% during the second quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 642 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Sempra Energy by 51.2% in the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 375 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Mendel Money Management raised its position in Sempra Energy by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 8,476 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $642,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 5,999 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,370 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,922,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $98.00 price target on Sempra Energy in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Sempra Energy from $82.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. BTIG Research upgraded Sempra Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $99.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $96.92.

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Get Our Latest Analysis on SRE

Sempra Energy Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Sempra Energy stock opened at $93.85 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.48. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.72. The company has a market cap of $61.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.99 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be given a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 11th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Sempra Energy's payout ratio is 79.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other news, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,510 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.38, for a total transaction of $137,983.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 3,481 shares in the company, valued at $318,093.78. This trade represents a 30.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total transaction of $400,001.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,325 shares in the company, valued at $1,048,128.75. This represents a 27.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 62,693 shares of company stock worth $5,507,997. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Energy Company Profile

Sempra operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Sempra California, Sempra Texas Utilities, and Sempra Infrastructure. The Sempra California segment provides electric services; and natural gas services to San Diego County.

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