VCI Wealth Management LLC Sells 7,786 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

VCI Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 41.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,786 shares during the period. VCI Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Sempra Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $701,649,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 786.1% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,957,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $224,082,000 after purchasing an additional 2,623,637 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 809.5% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,750,891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $208,435,000 after buying an additional 2,448,415 shares during the period. PointState Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $154,369,000. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $160,357,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available through this link. Also, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 7,564 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.29, for a total transaction of $698,081.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 41,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,809,731.20. This trade represents a 15.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 33,829 shares of company stock worth $3,077,360. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on SRE shares. Wall Street Zen raised Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $96.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.17.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $88.84 on Friday. Sempra Energy has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $95.72. The firm has a market cap of $57.98 billion, a PE ratio of 27.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.71. 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 (NYSE:SRE) last posted 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. 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. Analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be given 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.14%.

About Sempra Energy

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.