TD Private Client Wealth LLC Cuts Holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

TD Private Client Wealth LLC lessened its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 57.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 9,672 shares during the quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,535,000,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,369,076,000 after purchasing an additional 4,082,261 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 70.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,666,240 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $584,763,000 after purchasing an additional 2,758,037 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 71.3% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,651,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $408,069,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,865 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,797,376,000 after buying an additional 1,511,313 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $88.00 price objective (up from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Sempra Energy from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.75.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE SRE traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $74.59. 2,819,308 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,740,442. The stock has a market cap of $48.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.77. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.55.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.90 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.55% and a net margin of 22.15%. The firm's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $595,193.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,969 shares in the company, valued at $1,260,117.94. This trade represents a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

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.