Sempra Energy $SRE Stock Position Trimmed by Platinum Investment Management Ltd.

Platinum Investment Management Ltd. cut its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,673 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 486 shares during the quarter. Platinum Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pingora Partners LLC lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 48.3% in the 1st quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 230.8% in the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Sempra Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Eastern Bank lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 73.7% in the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 188.9% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 855 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $93.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.55.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $89.22 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $82.82 and its 200-day moving average is $76.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.41. Sempra Energy has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The business’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 62.32%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In other news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $126,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,248,000. This trade represents a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,987 shares of company stock valued at $4,267,870 over the last ninety days. Corporate 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.