James Investment Research Inc. Has $565,000 Stock Holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

James Investment Research Inc. reduced its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 70.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 19,219 shares during the quarter. James Investment Research Inc.'s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $565,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 8,194 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 2.1% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,639 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.7% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 8,169 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $583,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 5.1% in the first quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 3,212 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SRE. Citigroup lowered their target price on Sempra Energy from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays set a $71.00 price target on Sempra Energy and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $88.00 price target (up previously from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Sempra Energy from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Six 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.com, Sempra Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.75.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Sempra Energy stock traded up $1.08 on Thursday, reaching $76.32. 2,227,010 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,870,681. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The company's 50-day moving average is $75.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.19. The firm has a market cap of $49.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.63. Sempra Energy has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts' expectations of $3.90 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.55% and a net margin of 22.15%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 26th were given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 26th. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 16,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,260,117.94. This trade represents a 32.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company 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.