Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Trims Holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 17.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,166 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,402 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $1,154,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 335.8% in the first quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,697 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $881,000 after purchasing an additional 9,013 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 17.6% in the first quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 18,276 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,305,000 after purchasing an additional 2,733 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 4.5% in the first quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,216 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $515,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 41.4% in the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 2,104 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the period. Finally, Parcion Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.9% in the first quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 47,862 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,415,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

SRE traded up $0.39 during trading on Friday, hitting $80.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,137,979 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,156,543. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra Energy has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $76.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.63.

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

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 26th were paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 26th. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 56.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,248,000. The trade was a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of Sempra Energy 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 16,969 shares in the company, valued at $1,260,117.94. This represents a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

About Sempra Energy

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.