Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Purchased by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 321,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,676 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $28,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SRE. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 74.6% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 117.4% during the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Sempra Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In related news, Director Richard J. Mark purchased 2,692 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $93.30 per share, with a total value of $251,163.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 17,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,621,180.80. This trade represents a 18.33% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jennifer M. Kirk purchased 1,000 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $93.44 per share, for a total transaction of $93,440.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,440. The trade was a ? increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 6,192 shares of company stock valued at $576,979 and sold 7,539 shares valued at $706,906. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Sempra Energy from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 29th. Argus raised shares of Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.64.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:SRE opened at $96.15 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.59. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $69.08 and a one year high of $101.04. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.76. The stock has a market cap of $62.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This is a boost from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 19th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio 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.