Carnegie Investment Counsel Sells 3,032 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Carnegie Investment Counsel reduced its holdings in Sempra Energy by 2.1%, selling 3,032 shares during the second quarter, leaving them with a total of 143,373 shares valued at approximately $10.86 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Sempra Energy, with Vanguard Group Inc. acquiring an additional 1.22 million shares, raising its stake by 1.9% in the first quarter.
• Sempra Energy announced a quarterly dividend of $0.645 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.8% and a payout ratio of 62.32%.

Carnegie Investment Counsel reduced its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 2.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 143,373 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,032 shares during the quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $10,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.9% in 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 during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 26.8% in the first 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 during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 0.3% in the first quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 13,331,160 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $951,312,000 after purchasing an additional 41,104 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 4.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,520,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $536,671,000 after acquiring an additional 291,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 12.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,489,903 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $534,479,000 after acquiring an additional 823,663 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 target price (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Friday. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $91.50.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 1.1%

SRE stock opened at $92.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $86.31 and a 200 day moving average of $79.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.66.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy's payout ratio is 62.32%.

Insider Activity at Sempra Energy

In related news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total value of $2,430,637.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,475 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,303,149.75. The trade was a 65.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 11.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 48,411 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,790. 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.

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