Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Reduces Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. decreased its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 93.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 675 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,361 shares during the quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $61,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Sempra Energy by 24.4% during the second quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 51.2% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Mendel Money Management lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 8,476 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.2% during the second quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 5,999 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 0.6% in the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,922,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 7,564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.29, for a total transaction of $698,081.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 41,280 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,731.20. This trade represents a 15.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total value of $400,001.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,325 shares in the company, valued at $1,048,128.75. This represents a 27.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 33,829 shares of company stock worth $3,077,360 in the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Sempra Energy stock opened at $86.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.59. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.30. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.72. The firm has a market cap of $56.59 billion, a PE ratio of 26.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.73.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 8.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 11th will be given a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group set a $96.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $91.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.17.

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.