Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Sells 1,086 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH reduced its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 0.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 312,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,086 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $23,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,238,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,584,032,000 after buying an additional 1,220,047 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 26.8% during the first 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 3.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,036,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,058,214,000 after acquiring an additional 525,750 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 0.3% in the first quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 13,331,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $951,312,000 after purchasing an additional 41,104 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 4.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,520,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $536,671,000 after purchasing an additional 291,026 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total transaction of $400,001.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,048,128.75. This represents a 27.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,303,149.75. The trade was a 65.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 47,619 shares of company stock worth $4,122,392 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SRE shares. BTIG Research raised Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $82.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $101.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.42.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

SRE opened at $91.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.78 billion, a PE ratio of 22.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The business’s 50-day moving average is $89.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.30. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.27. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.14%.

Sempra Energy Profile

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.