Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Sold by Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. cut its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 65.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,175 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 15,215 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $624,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Sempra Energy by 26.8% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,686,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,474,236,000 after buying an additional 10,278,893 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Sempra Energy in the first quarter valued at $192,130,000. PointState Capital LP acquired a new position in Sempra Energy in the first quarter valued at $154,369,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Sempra Energy in the second quarter valued at $160,357,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 42.7% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,647,990 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $331,681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,391,433 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $91.26 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $85.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Sempra Energy has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The company has a market cap of $59.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $126,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,248,000. This represents a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total transaction of $1,291,753.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,042 shares of the company's stock, valued at $93,259. This represents a 93.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 49,987 shares of company stock worth $4,267,870. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $93.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $105.00 target price on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $86.09.

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.

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