Voya Investment Management LLC Lowers Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Voya Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 13.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 176,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 28,488 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $15,892,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 10.3% during the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 5,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 21.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,656,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $260,950,000 after buying an additional 648,530 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 7.0% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 3,495,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $249,435,000 after acquiring an additional 229,045 shares during the period. Energy Income Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.5% during the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 2,182,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $155,739,000 after acquiring an additional 52,838 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 46.0% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,676,000 after acquiring an additional 11,811 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SRE. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $99.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, November 24th. BTIG Research upgraded Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, October 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.17.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 1.3%

SRE opened at $88.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.56. Sempra Energy has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.57.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 15.63%.Sempra Energy’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total value of $400,001.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,048,128.75. This trade represents a 27.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $318,093.78. This trade represents a 30.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 33,829 shares of company stock valued at $3,077,360 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Company 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.