TD Private Client Wealth LLC Trims Stake in Sempra Energy $SRE

TD Private Client Wealth LLC cut its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 83.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,263 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Westerkirk Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Sempra Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,091,000. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,903,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $142,429,000 after acquiring an additional 327,154 shares during the last quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $223,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 91.9% in the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 493,066 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,413,000 after purchasing an additional 236,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in Sempra Energy by 9.2% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 90,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,864,000 after purchasing an additional 7,621 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group set a $96.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Sempra Energy from $101.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. BTIG Research upgraded Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.17.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $92.53 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $90.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.35. Sempra Energy has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $95.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.74.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 15.63%.Sempra Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 11th were paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s dividend 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 firm’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 in the company, valued at $1,048,128.75. This trade represents a 27.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,510 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,093.78. This trade represents a 30.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 19,396 shares of company stock valued at $1,785,606. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sempra Energy 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.