Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Sold by Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,434,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 55,197 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $563,328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in Sempra Energy by 24.4% in the second quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 51.2% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Mendel Money Management increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 8,476 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Sempra Energy by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 5,999 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Sempra Energy by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,922,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,510 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.38, for a total value of $137,983.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 3,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $318,093.78. This trade represents a 30.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total value of $1,291,753.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,259. This represents a 93.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 62,693 shares of company stock worth $5,507,997 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $90.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $58.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.61, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.73. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.72. 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 50 day moving average price is $91.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.58.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued 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 15.63% and a return on equity of 8.67%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 11th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 79.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley set a $98.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, November 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Sempra Energy from $82.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.92.

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.