Yousif Capital Management LLC Trims Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 82,608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,484 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $7,433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 3.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,328,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,025,777,000 after buying an additional 2,090,840 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 3.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,380,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,626,827,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214,931 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 3.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,036,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,058,214,000 after acquiring an additional 525,750 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $701,649,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,231,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $373,349,000 after purchasing an additional 630,540 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SRE shares. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Sempra Energy from $101.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.17.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 7,564 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.29, for a total transaction of $698,081.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 41,280 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,731.20. This represents a 15.49% 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. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total transaction of $1,291,753.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,259. The trade was a 93.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 33,829 shares of company stock worth $3,077,360 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 0.2%

SRE stock opened at $88.84 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $91.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.68. Sempra Energy has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.72. The company has a market cap of $57.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.25, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.73.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.27. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 15.63%.The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 11th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.14%.

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.