Natixis Cuts Stake in Sempra Energy $SRE

Natixis cut its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 75.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,481 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 223,759 shares during the quarter. Natixis’ holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $5,492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 42.7% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,647,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $331,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391,433 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in Sempra Energy by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 25,769 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,839,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $514,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $192,130,000. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 10.2% during the first quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 23,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,663,000 after buying an additional 2,160 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.70, for a total transaction of $45,850.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 33,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,086,988.80. This trade represents a 1.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total transaction of $1,291,753.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,259. The trade was 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 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 0.2%

SRE opened at $88.35 on Wednesday. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year 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 stock has a market capitalization of $57.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.73. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.91.

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

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 11th will be given a $0.645 dividend. 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 analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. UBS Group increased their target price on Sempra Energy from $82.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $99.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, November 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.92.

Sempra Energy Company 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.