Great Lakes Advisors LLC Has $319,000 Stake in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors LLC has reduced its holdings in Sempra Energy by 90.9%, selling 44,589 shares and now owning only 4,469 shares valued at approximately $319,000.
• Sempra Energy reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.82, despite a 0.4% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• According to recent reports, Sempra Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" among analysts, with a target price of around $81.27.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 90.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,469 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 44,589 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,774,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $243,364,000 after purchasing an additional 253,585 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $589,000. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV grew its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 77,258 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,781,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 39,231 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,441,000 after purchasing an additional 8,638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 143,259 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $12,567,000 after purchasing an additional 7,162 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Sempra Energy stock traded down $0.15 on Thursday, reaching $82.51. 5,866,333 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,734,507. The company has a market capitalization of $53.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.65. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The firm's 50-day moving average is $80.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.48.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.32%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In other news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total transaction of $2,430,637.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,475 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,303,149.75. This trade represents a 65.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders sold a total of 35,554 shares of company stock valued at $2,976,117 in the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.27.

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.