Alliancebernstein L.P. Lowers Stock Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 10.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 741,862 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 86,894 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.11% of Sempra Energy worth $52,939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SRE. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 10,278,893 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the 1st quarter worth $192,130,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 71.3% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,651,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $408,069,000 after buying an additional 1,936,865 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 42.7% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,647,990 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $331,681,000 after buying an additional 1,391,433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,238,102 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,584,032,000 after buying an additional 1,220,047 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra Energy news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,248,000. The trade was a 9.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.33.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of SRE stock traded up $1.33 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $83.34. 2,928,562 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,448,786. Sempra Energy has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company's 50-day moving average price is $79.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.65.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.