Advisors Asset Management Inc. Trims Stake in Sempra Energy $SRE

Advisors Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 64.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,841 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 26,560 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $1,059,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 26.8% during 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 buying an additional 10,278,893 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the first quarter worth about $192,130,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 71.3% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,651,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $408,069,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,865 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 42.7% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,647,990 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $331,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391,433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,238,102 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,584,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220,047 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of SRE traded up $1.64 on Wednesday, reaching $81.96. The stock had a trading volume of 3,727,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,203,468. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.80, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $79.98 and a 200 day moving average of $75.55. Sempra Energy has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $95.77.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.