Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Sold by Eventide Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Eventide Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in Sempra Energy by 81.2% in Q1, now owning just 3,157 shares valued at $220,000 after selling 13,680 shares.
• Several other institutional investors have increased their positions in Sempra Energy, with hedge funds collectively owning 89.65% of the company's stock.
• Sempra Energy reported earnings of $0.89 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, but its revenue fell 0.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Eventide Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 81.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,157 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 13,680 shares during the quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 70,118 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,151,000 after buying an additional 1,838 shares in the last quarter. Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 5,764 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $506,000 after buying an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 49,182 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,345,000 after buying an additional 1,968 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.33.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE SRE traded up $1.16 on Wednesday, reaching $81.48. 1,354,984 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,441,746. The business's fifty day moving average price is $79.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy 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.