Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Holdings Decreased by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 60.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 29,996 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $1,381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. L & S Advisors Inc grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 52.6% during the 4th quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 41,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,649,000 after buying an additional 14,338 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in Sempra Energy by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 9,479 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $831,000 after buying an additional 990 shares during the last quarter. Blue Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $3,556,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,740,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $328,147,000 after buying an additional 115,372 shares during the period. Finally, Crestline Management LP acquired a new position in Sempra Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,183,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total value of $343,114.91. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,778 shares in the company, valued at $1,408,786.94. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $595,193.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,260,117.94. The trade was a 32.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lowered shares of Sempra Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.75.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 0.4%

Sempra Energy stock opened at $74.10 on Wednesday. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.77. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $74.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $48.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.64.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.12. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.55% and a net margin of 22.15%. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.70%.

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.