Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Trims Stake in Sempra Energy $SRE

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. trimmed its stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 302,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,228 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $22,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pingora Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 48.3% in the 1st quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 230.8% in the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 74.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 73.7% in the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new position in Sempra Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $51,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 1.1%

SRE opened at $92.81 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.71. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $60.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast 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 was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 62.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SRE. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. BTIG Research raised shares of Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $419,399.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. This represents a 11.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total transaction of $2,430,637.44. Following the sale, the director owned 15,475 shares in the company, valued at $1,303,149.75. This represents a 65.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,411 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,790 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

About Sempra Energy

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.