USS Investment Management Ltd Lowers Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• USS Investment Management Ltd has reduced its stake in Sempra Energy by 34.0%, selling 48,800 shares to hold a total of 94,838 shares valued at approximately $6.77 million.
• Sempra Energy recently reported earnings of $0.89 per share, exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.82, despite a slight decline in revenue compared to the previous year.
• Analysts have varied price targets for Sempra Energy's stock, with an average target of $82.33, indicating a generally positive outlook among several analysts who rated the stock as "Moderate Buy."

USS Investment Management Ltd reduced its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 34.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 94,838 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 48,800 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $6,765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,238,102 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,584,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220,047 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake 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 valued at $3,474,236,000 after acquiring an additional 10,278,893 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 13,331,160 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $951,312,000 after purchasing an additional 41,104 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 4.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,520,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $536,671,000 after acquiring an additional 291,026 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,489,903 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $534,479,000 after acquiring an additional 823,663 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, August 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $82.33.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 2.0%

NYSE SRE traded up $1.64 on Wednesday, reaching $81.96. The stock had a trading volume of 3,727,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,203,468. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $53.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $79.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.55.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the company'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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. This represents a 11.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $126,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,248,000. This represents a 9.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Energy Company 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.