Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Decreases Holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 21.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,792 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 9,855 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $2,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Sigma Planning Corp lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 6,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Sempra Energy by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 5,263 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $462,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,210 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 414.3% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 79,249 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,952,000 after acquiring an additional 63,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor OS LLC boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 63.8% during the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 10,052 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $882,000 after purchasing an additional 3,917 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $88.00 price target (up previously from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.83.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE SRE traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $75.32. 5,966,282 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,855,859. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.64. 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 business's fifty day moving average price is $75.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.39.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.80 billion for 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 revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total value of $343,114.91. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,778 shares in the company, valued at $1,408,786.94. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 value of $595,193.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,260,117.94. The trade was a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

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.