APG Asset Management N.V. Cuts Stock Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• APG Asset Management N.V. has reduced its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.1% in Q1, now holding 340,800 shares valued at approximately $22.51 million.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Sempra Energy, with Morgan Stanley raising its objective to $88.00 and Citigroup increasing it to $80.00, indicating a mostly positive outlook for the stock.
• Recent insider sales included EVP Caroline Ann Winn offloading over 5,100 shares at an average price of $82.01, marking a significant reduction in their ownership.

APG Asset Management N.V. reduced its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 340,800 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,900 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. owned approximately 0.05% of Sempra Energy worth $22,514,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 10,278,893 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Sempra Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $192,130,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 71.3% during the 4th 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 period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 42.7% during 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 during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 buying an additional 1,220,047 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

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

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Sempra Energy stock traded down $0.73 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $81.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,535,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,485,090. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $78.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.74. The stock has a market cap of $53.20 billion, a PE ratio of 19.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.62.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays upped their target price on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 target price (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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $82.33.

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.