Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Sold by Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA

Key Points

• Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA has significantly reduced its stake in Sempra Energy by 94.3%, now holding only 761 shares valued at $57,000.
• In the 2nd quarter, several institutional investors increased their positions in Sempra Energy, with Greenleaf Trust lifting its stake by 10.9% and G&S Capital enhancing its holdings by 106%.
• Sempra Energy recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.645 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $2.58 and a yield of 2.9%.

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA trimmed its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 94.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 761 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 12,670 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $57,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 11,139 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $844,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares during the period. G&S Capital LLC lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 106.0% during the 2nd quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 8,245 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 4,242 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 302,644 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $22,931,000 after acquiring an additional 7,016 shares during the period. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $289,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 14,129 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In other news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of the company's 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $126,080.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,248,000. The trade was a 9.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,987 shares of company stock valued at $4,267,870 over the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on SRE. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $93.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Six 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 has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $84.55.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $89.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $58.21 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $82.82 and a 200 day moving average of $76.99. 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 has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The firm's revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.32%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.