Kevin C. Sagara Sells 28,864 Shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Stock

Key Points

• Director Kevin Sagara sold 28,864 shares of Sempra Energy at an average price of $84.21, a transaction worth approximately $2.43 million, resulting in a 65.10% decrease in his holdings.
• Sempra Energy's recent trading saw shares down to $83.44, with a market cap of $54.44 billion and a P/E ratio of 20.15.
• Analysts give Sempra Energy a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $81.27, amid recent upgrades from Barclays and Citigroup.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of Sempra Energy 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 transaction, the director owned 15,475 shares in the company, valued at $1,303,149.75. This trade represents a 65.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

SRE traded up $0.79 during trading on Friday, hitting $83.27. The stock had a trading volume of 9,015,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,857,891. The firm has a market cap of $54.33 billion, a PE ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 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 current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.00.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. Analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy's payout ratio is 62.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sempra Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SRE. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 26.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 10,278,893 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Sempra Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $701,649,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Sempra Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $192,130,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 786.1% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,957,399 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $224,082,000 after purchasing an additional 2,623,637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 809.5% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,750,891 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $208,435,000 after purchasing an additional 2,448,415 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays lifted 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 report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.27.

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.