Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. Sells 406,351 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 77.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 118,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 406,351 shares during the quarter. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $10,644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 85,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,678,000 after purchasing an additional 13,864 shares during the period. Westerkirk Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the second quarter worth $3,091,000. Amundi raised its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 20.8% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,903,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $142,429,000 after buying an additional 327,154 shares in the last quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the second quarter worth $212,000. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 32.6% during the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 74,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,714,000 after buying an additional 18,359 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra Energy news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 4,872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.58, for a total transaction of $451,049.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,029 shares in the company, valued at $3,613,304.82. This represents a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $93.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.87, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.73. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $97.44. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.16. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 13.27% and a return on equity of 8.22%. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be paid a $0.6575 dividend. This is a boost from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 19th. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 93.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $99.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Barclays set a $95.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $101.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Friday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

About Sempra Energy

Sempra Energy is a San Diego–based energy infrastructure company that develops, owns and operates businesses delivering electricity and natural gas. Its operations include regulated utility services that provide electric and gas distribution to residential, commercial and industrial customers, as well as non‑regulated infrastructure businesses that develop and manage large-scale energy assets.

The company’s product and service portfolio spans electricity and natural gas delivery, transmission and storage, liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, power generation and electric transmission projects.