Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Position Lowered by Chilton Capital Management LLC

Chilton Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 90.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,668 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 296,724 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $2,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Sempra Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $326,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 90.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,905 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $606,000 after buying an additional 3,286 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 77.0% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 17,011 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,492,000 after buying an additional 7,402 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 43,217 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,791,000 after buying an additional 5,305 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $88.00 target price (up previously from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Sempra Energy from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Argus lowered shares of Sempra Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.83.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 0.2%

SRE stock traded down $0.12 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $74.27. 4,352,191 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,868,351. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.42 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $75.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.65. Sempra Energy has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $95.77.

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

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $595,193.90. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,260,117.94. This represents a 32.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.