Korea Investment CORP Cuts Stock Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Korea Investment CORP has reduced its ownership in Sempra Energy by 3.1%, selling 13,622 shares and retaining 426,887 shares valued at approximately $30.5 million as of the last quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Invesco, increased their stakes in Sempra Energy, which is largely owned by institutional investors at 89.65%.
• Sempra Energy reported earnings per share of $0.89 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, although its revenue of $3 billion fell short of analyst estimates.

Korea Investment CORP trimmed its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 3.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 426,887 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 13,622 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned 0.07% of Sempra Energy worth $30,463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Eastern Bank increased its position in Sempra Energy by 73.7% in the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter worth $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,229,553.80. The trade was a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,248,000. This trade represents a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Sempra Energy stock traded up $1.6940 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $82.8240. 2,489,237 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,565,545. Sempra Energy has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $78.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $54.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.01, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.62.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SRE. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $88.00 price objective (up from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.58.

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.