Newport Trust Company LLC Sells 620,492 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Newport Trust Company LLC cut its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,207,882 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 620,492 shares during the period. Sempra Energy makes up approximately 2.5% of Newport Trust Company LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Newport Trust Company LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $1,098,465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Sempra Energy during the second quarter worth about $701,649,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 786.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,957,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $224,082,000 after acquiring an additional 2,623,637 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 809.5% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,750,891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $208,435,000 after acquiring an additional 2,448,415 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Sempra Energy by 3.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,328,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,025,777,000 after purchasing an additional 2,090,840 shares during the period. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 321.9% in the second quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP now owns 1,676,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279,431 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.83.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

SRE opened at $85.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The company has a market capitalization of $56.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $89.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.80. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.72.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. Sempra Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 11th were given a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 79.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.38, for a total transaction of $137,983.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $318,093.78. The trade was a 30.25% decrease in their position. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.29, for a total value of $698,081.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 41,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,809,731.20. The trade was a 15.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,396 shares of company stock worth $1,785,606. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.