Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Sold by Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 17,162 shares during the period. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $1,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 74.6% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 117.4% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Motco lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 1,945.8% during the 3rd quarter. Motco now owns 491 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the period. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Sempra Energy by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $101.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Barclays set a $95.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Sempra Energy from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.58, for a total transaction of $451,049.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,613,304.82. This represents a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE:SRE opened at $92.97 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.59. The company has a market capitalization of $60.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.43.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.82 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.22% and a net margin of 13.27%.Sempra Energy’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.6575 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 19th. This is a positive change from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 95.29%.

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.