Hennessy Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Hennessy Advisors trimmed its Sempra Energy stake by 8.8% in Q4, selling 26,200 shares and leaving 271,580 shares valued at about $23.98 million.
• EPS beat and dividend increase: Sempra reported $1.28 EPS versus $1.12 expected while revenue slightly missed, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.6575 (annualized $2.63) for a ~2.8% yield.
• Institutional ownership and analyst view: 89.65% of shares are held by institutions, analysts rate the stock a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $101.64 price target, and the shares trade near $94 (market cap ~$61.4B).

Hennessy Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 271,580 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 26,200 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $23,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Sempra Energy by 52.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,008 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,285,000 after acquiring an additional 6,196 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in Sempra Energy by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 53,512 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,819,000 after acquiring an additional 15,474 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Sempra Energy by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 14,699 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 858 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its holdings in Sempra Energy by 78.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 771 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Sempra Energy by 80.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 423,280 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,072,000 after acquiring an additional 188,131 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE SRE opened at $94.00 on Monday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $94.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.57. Sempra Energy has a 12 month low of $69.08 and a 12 month high of $101.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.06, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.67.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 13.27% and a return on equity of 8.22%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 19th were given a dividend of $0.6575 per share. This represents a $2.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from Sempra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 19th. Sempra Energy's payout ratio is 95.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on SRE. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $105.00 price target (up from $95.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $100.00 price target (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $101.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Friday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $101.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other news, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,539 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.38, for a total transaction of $146,789.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,895.54. This trade represents a 24.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Richard J. Mark bought 2,692 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $93.30 per share, for a total transaction of $251,163.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 17,376 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,621,180.80. The trade was a 18.33% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders bought 6,192 shares of company stock valued at $576,979 and sold 7,539 shares valued at $706,906. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sempra Energy Company Profile

Sempra Energy is a San Diego–based energy infrastructure company that develops, owns and operates businesses delivering electricity and natural gas. Its operations include regulated utility services that provide electric and gas distribution to residential, commercial and industrial customers, as well as non‑regulated infrastructure businesses that develop and manage large-scale energy assets.

The company's product and service portfolio spans electricity and natural gas delivery, transmission and storage, liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, power generation and electric transmission projects.

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