Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Sold by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Key Points

• Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC has reduced its stake in Sempra Energy by 8.4%, owning 227,224 shares worth approximately $17.3 million after selling 20,957 shares in the second quarter.
• Insider transactions include Sempra Energy Director Kevin C. Sagara selling 28,864 shares, resulting in a significant 65.10% decrease in ownership, while Executive Vice President Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares, reflecting an 11.49% decrease.
• Sempra Energy recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.645 per share, leading to an annualized figure of $2.58 and a dividend yield of 2.8%.

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lowered its stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 8.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 227,224 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 20,957 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $17,310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pingora Partners LLC grew its position in Sempra Energy by 48.3% in the 1st quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 230.8% in the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Eastern Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 73.7% in the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the second quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 44.7% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,026 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total transaction of $2,430,637.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,475 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,303,149.75. This trade represents a 65.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at $3,229,553.80. This represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,987 shares of company stock worth $4,267,870 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price target on Sempra Energy and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $86.09.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 0.1%

Sempra Energy stock opened at $91.26 on Friday. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.66. The stock's fifty day moving average is $85.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.48.

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

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.32%.

Sempra Energy Company 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.

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