Sempra Energy $SRE Stock Position Lowered by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 8.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 475 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 5,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 3,495,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $249,435,000 after buying an additional 229,045 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 21.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,656,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $260,950,000 after buying an additional 648,530 shares in the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 2,182,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $155,739,000 after buying an additional 52,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 46.0% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,676,000 after buying an additional 11,811 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $90.15 on Friday. Sempra Energy has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year 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 market capitalization of $58.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.03.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. Sempra Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $126,080.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,000. The trade was a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,987 shares of company stock worth $4,267,870 over the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on SRE shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup reaffirmed 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. Barclays boosted their target price on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $93.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $105.00 target price on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.09.

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.