Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Position Trimmed by HB Wealth Management LLC

HB Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 17.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,498 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,289 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $1,106,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Sempra Energy by 70.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,666,240 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $584,763,000 after purchasing an additional 2,758,037 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Sempra Energy by 71.3% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,651,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $408,069,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,865 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Sempra Energy by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,797,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511,313 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Sempra Energy by 100.3% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,185,244 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $103,970,000 after purchasing an additional 593,481 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Sempra Energy by 4,338.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 592,074 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,250,000 after purchasing an additional 578,733 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Energy Stock Down 0.9%

Sempra Energy stock traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $80.97. The stock had a trading volume of 2,661,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,611,700. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $52.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.63. Sempra Energy has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $76.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.85.

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

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 26th were given a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio is 56.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SRE. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $88.00 price target (up from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $126,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,000. This trade represents a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $595,193.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 16,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,260,117.94. This trade represents a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is currently 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.