Rafferty Asset Management LLC Sells 14,121 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Sempra Energy by 19.9%, selling 14,121 shares and now holds 56,998 shares valued at approximately $4.07 million.
• Insider trading activity includes SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque selling 1,576 shares and EVP Caroline Ann Winn selling 5,114 shares, leading to notable decreases in their respective ownership percentages.
• Analysts remain positive on Sempra Energy, with several brokerages raising their target prices and the stock currently rated as a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $82.33.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 19.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,998 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 14,121 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $4,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 8,194 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 6,195 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 8,169 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $583,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 5.0% during the first quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 2,988 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Applied Finance Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.3% in the first quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 11,334 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $809,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.33.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Sempra Energy stock traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $82.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,279,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,464,432. Sempra Energy has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $79.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.61. 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 capitalization of $53.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.92, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 15,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,248,000. This trade represents a 9.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. This represents a 11.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.