Stephens Inc. AR Reduces Stock Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Stephens Inc. AR decreased its stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 2.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 240 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,238,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,584,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220,047 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 26.8% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,686,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,474,236,000 after acquiring an additional 10,278,893 shares during the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 13,331,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $951,312,000 after acquiring an additional 41,104 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,520,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $536,671,000 after acquiring an additional 291,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,489,903 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $534,479,000 after acquiring an additional 823,663 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In related news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $419,399.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at $3,229,553.80. The trade was a 11.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total value of $2,430,637.44. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,303,149.75. This trade represents a 65.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,411 shares of company stock worth $4,141,790. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $92.81 on Friday. Sempra Energy has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.60. The company has a market capitalization of $60.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is 62.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on SRE shares. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 target price on Sempra Energy and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.50.

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.