Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Sold by Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co decreased its stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 48,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,377 shares during the quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $3,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Sempra Energy by 16.2% in the second quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,306,000 after buying an additional 2,397 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $907,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in Sempra Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $343,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Sempra Energy by 125.8% during the second quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 225,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,051,000 after purchasing an additional 125,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Sempra Energy by 63.9% during the second quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 4,865 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 price target on Sempra Energy and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $82.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $99.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $98.00 price objective on Sempra Energy in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.92.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total transaction of $2,430,637.44. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,475 shares in the company, valued at $1,303,149.75. This represents a 65.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.58, for a total transaction of $503,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 34,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,128,739.12. The trade was a 13.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 62,693 shares of company stock valued at $5,507,997 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $92.39 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $60.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68. Sempra Energy has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.72.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. Sempra Energy’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 11th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.14%.

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.