Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 29,996 Shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 60.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,350 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 29,996 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $1,381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 265.2% in 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. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SRE. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $88.00 target price (up previously from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut shares of Sempra Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays cut shares of Sempra Energy from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.83.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

SRE stock traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $74.27. The company had a trading volume of 3,257,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,804,563. The company has a market capitalization of $48.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $74.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.05. Sempra Energy has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.90 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.55% and a net margin of 22.15%. Sempra Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra Energy's payout ratio is 56.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $595,193.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,260,117.94. The trade was a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was 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 approximately $1,408,786.94. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

About Sempra Energy

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.