Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Sold by Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 214,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,787 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $19,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Westerkirk Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Sempra Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $3,091,000. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 20.8% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,903,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $142,429,000 after acquiring an additional 327,154 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc. purchased a new position in Sempra Energy during the second quarter worth about $223,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in 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 during the period. Finally, GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 353,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,794,000 after purchasing an additional 11,437 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SRE. UBS Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, November 24th. BTIG Research raised Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $97.00 price target (down previously from $98.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,510 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.38, for a total transaction of $137,983.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 3,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $318,093.78. This trade represents a 30.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 7,564 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.29, for a total value of $698,081.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 41,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,731.20. This represents a 15.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 19,396 shares of company stock worth $1,785,606 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of SRE stock opened at $85.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $56.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.72. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.80.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 8.67%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. On average, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 11th were given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 79.14%.

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.