Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Sold by Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Sempra Energy by 47.6% during the 2nd quarter, selling 3,156 shares, leaving them with 3,479 shares valued at $266,000.
• Sempra Energy reported $0.89 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, despite a 0.4% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.645 per share, representing an annualized yield of 3.0%, with the payment date set for October 15th.

Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 47.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,479 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,156 shares during the quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 8,169 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 48.3% during the 1st quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 2,988 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 11,334 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $809,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 3,212 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

SRE opened at $86.48 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $81.99 and a 200-day moving average of $76.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.89, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.65. Sempra Energy has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77. 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 (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The company's revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the 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 sale, the director directly owned 15,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,303,149.75. This trade represents a 65.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,554 shares of company stock worth $2,976,117. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SRE. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $93.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho raised their price objective on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.55.

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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