Chilton Capital Management LLC Sells 296,724 Shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

Chilton Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 90.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 32,668 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 296,724 shares during the quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $2,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Sempra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 265.2% in the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Sempra Energy during the first quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $595,193.90. Following the transaction, the insider owned 16,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,260,117.94. The trade was a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Sempra Energy from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $88.00 price objective (up from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Argus lowered shares of Sempra Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.83.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock traded down $0.79 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $74.33. The stock had a trading volume of 517,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,853,757. Sempra Energy has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.46 billion, a PE ratio of 16.35, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The stock's 50 day moving average is $75.97 and its 200 day moving average is $76.75.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 22.15% and a return on equity of 8.55%. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra Energy's payout ratio is 56.70%.

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.