AE Wealth Management LLC Has $448,000 Stock Position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

AE Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 36.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,284 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,583 shares during the quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $595,193.90. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,260,117.94. This represents a 32.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $126,080.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,248,000. This trade represents a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of SRE traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $80.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,661,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,611,700. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.77. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $76.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.63.

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

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 26th were paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 26th. Sempra Energy's payout ratio is currently 56.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Barclays cut their price objective on Sempra Energy from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Sempra Energy from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $88.00 price objective (up from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Sempra Energy from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.75.

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.