Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Sold by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Key Points

• Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. reduced its stake in Sempra Energy by 39.4% in the second quarter, now owning 71,470 shares valued at $5.4 million.
• Sempra Energy's stock has an average target price of $86.09 with ratings ranging from "Buy" to "Hold" from various analysts.
• In the most recent earnings report, Sempra Energy beat earnings expectations with an EPS of $0.89, despite a slight decline in quarterly revenue year-over-year.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 39.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,470 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 46,407 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $5,415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. now owns 102,558 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,770,000 after acquiring an additional 2,495 shares during the period. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $215,000. Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 4.0% in the second quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 36,120 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,382 shares during the period. Trilogy Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 20.9% in the second quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 3,465 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the second quarter worth about $9,457,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 target price (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $93.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $86.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $126,080.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,248,000. This trade represents a 9.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,987 shares of company stock worth $4,267,870. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 1.1%

SRE stock opened at $92.41 on Tuesday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $83.44 and its 200 day moving average is $77.52. The firm has a market cap of $60.29 billion, a PE ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.66. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.77. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The company's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

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

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.

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