Peak Financial Advisors LLC Has $2.34 Million Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Peak Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 190.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,400 shares during the quarter. Sempra Energy accounts for about 1.1% of Peak Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Peak Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $2,344,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 19.4% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 85,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,678,000 after buying an additional 13,864 shares during the period. Westerkirk Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,091,000. Amundi grew its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,903,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $142,429,000 after buying an additional 327,154 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 203,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,302,000 after acquiring an additional 11,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $150,993,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SRE. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $101.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price objective (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Sempra Energy from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays set a $95.00 target price on Sempra Energy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.58, for a total value of $451,049.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,613,304.82. This represents a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jennifer M. Kirk acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $93.44 per share, with a total value of $93,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,440. The trade was a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have purchased 6,192 shares of company stock worth $576,979 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $95.30 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $62.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.53, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Sempra Energy has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $97.44.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.16. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 13.27% and a return on equity of 8.22%. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 19th will be issued a $0.6575 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 19th. This represents a $2.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 95.29%.

About Sempra Energy

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.