Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Lowers Stock Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management trimmed its stake in Sempra Energy by 5.5% in Q4, selling 245,620 shares and holding 4,250,729 shares (about 0.65% of the company) valued at roughly $375.3 million.
• Several large institutions actually increased positions—Vanguard, Capital International, State Street, JPMorgan and Invesco all added shares—leaving institutional ownership at about 89.65% of SRE.
• Sempra raised its quarterly dividend to $0.6575 (annualized $2.63, yield 2.8%), reported Q earnings of $1.28 EPS (beating estimates) with slightly lower revenue, and carries a consensus analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $102.67 price target.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lessened its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,250,729 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 245,620 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.65% of Sempra Energy worth $375,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,734,070 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,774,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,476 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 54,071,206 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,865,115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,572,312 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Sempra Energy by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,986,169 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,148,055,000 after buying an additional 606,101 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 106.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,428,007 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $938,325,000 after buying an additional 5,374,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 40.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,419,115 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $937,512,000 after buying an additional 2,984,409 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Jennifer M. Kirk bought 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $93.44 per share, with a total value of $93,440.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 1,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $93,440. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,539 shares of Sempra Energy 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,895.54. The trade was a 24.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 6,192 shares of company stock valued at $576,979 and sold 7,539 shares valued at $706,906. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $93.23 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $95.11 and a 200 day moving average of $91.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.67. Sempra Energy has a 12-month low of $72.99 and a 12-month high of $101.04.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.22% and a net margin of 13.27%.Sempra Energy's revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SRE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Sempra Energy from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Argus raised Sempra Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $104.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Sempra Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, March 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $102.67.

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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