Intact Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Intact Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 14.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,400 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $5,054,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted 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 worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 51.2% in 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.6% in the second quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 8,476 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $642,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC grew its position in Sempra Energy by 2.2% during the second 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 grew its position in Sempra Energy by 0.6% during the second 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $101.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price target on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $98.00 price objective on Sempra Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.92.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Sempra Energy stock opened at $89.06 on Thursday. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two 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 company has a market capitalization of $58.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day moving average of $91.94 and a 200 day moving average of $83.94.

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 business 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%.The business’s revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra Energy news, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,510 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.38, for a total transaction of $137,983.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $318,093.78. This trade represents a 30.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total transaction of $2,430,637.44. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,303,149.75. This represents a 65.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 62,693 shares of company stock worth $5,507,997 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Energy 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.