Lbp Am Sa Has $5.59 Million Stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

LBP AM SA reduced its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 4.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 78,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,519 shares during the quarter. LBP AM SA's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $5,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SRE. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 265.2% during the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,260,117.94. This represents a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $88.00 price objective (up from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.75.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of SRE stock traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $74.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,819,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,884,529. Sempra Energy has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The company has a market cap of $48.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.39, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.63. The firm's 50-day moving average is $75.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 22.15% and a return on equity of 8.55%. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.70%.

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.