Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Sold by Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. significantly reduced its stake in Sempra Energy by 80.7%, owning 253,070 shares valued at approximately $18.06 million after selling over a million shares in the first quarter.
• Several other institutional investors have increased their holdings in Sempra Energy, contributing to a total institutional ownership of 89.65% of the stock.
• Sempra Energy's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $0.89, surpassing analysts' expectations, despite a slight decline in revenue compared to the previous year.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. cut its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 80.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 253,070 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 1,061,200 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.'s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $18,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 26.8% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,686,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,474,236,000 after purchasing an additional 10,278,893 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $192,130,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 71.3% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,651,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $408,069,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,865 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Sempra Energy by 42.7% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,647,990 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $331,681,000 after buying an additional 1,391,433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,238,102 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,584,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220,047 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SRE. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 target price (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.33.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of SRE traded up $1.51 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $83.52. 4,779,586 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,231,906. Sempra Energy has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.52. The firm has a market cap of $54.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.Sempra Energy's revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $126,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,248,000. This trade represents a 9.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

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.