Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Grows Stock Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 285,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,367 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $25,705,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. West Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.1% in the third quarter. West Wealth Group LLC now owns 10,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $942,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Mendel Money Management boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 8,476 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $642,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tritonpoint Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In related news, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $318,093.78. This represents a 30.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 7,564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.29, for a total value of $698,081.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 41,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,809,731.20. This represents a 15.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,396 shares of company stock valued at $1,785,606. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $88.37 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.64. The stock has a market cap of $57.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.74. Sempra Energy has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $95.72.

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

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 11th were paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $112.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays dropped their target price on Sempra Energy from $101.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, UBS Group set a $96.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.92.

Sempra Energy 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.