Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Sold by Nordea Investment Management AB

Key Points

• Nordea Investment Management AB significantly reduced its holdings in Sempra Energy by 95.5% in the second quarter, selling 702,819 shares and now owning only 33,067 shares worth about $2.5 million.
• Sempra Energy reported quarterly earnings with an EPS of $0.89, surpassing the analysts' consensus estimate of $0.82, but its revenue fell 0.4% year-over-year, totaling $3 billion.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.645 per share, yielding 2.8%, with a payout ratio of 62.32%.

Nordea Investment Management AB decreased its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 95.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,067 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 702,819 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $2,497,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Pingora Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 48.3% in the first quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 230.8% in the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Eastern Bank boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 73.7% during the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 44.7% during the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,026 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Sempra Energy stock opened at $92.08 on Thursday. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $85.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $60.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.66.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. The company's revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In related news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total transaction of $1,291,753.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,042 shares of the company's stock, valued at $93,259. This trade represents a 93.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,411 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,790 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Tuesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $106.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays set a $101.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $91.50.

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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