Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Decreases Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. cut its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,321 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $1,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SRE. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in Sempra Energy by 245.1% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in Sempra Energy by 230.8% during 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 period. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 74.1% in the second quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $86.75 on Tuesday. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.72. 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 has a market cap of $56.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.61, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $89.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.97.

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

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 11th were paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 79.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total transaction of $400,001.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,048,128.75. This represents a 27.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 7,564 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 41,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,731.20. The trade was a 15.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 19,396 shares of company stock valued at $1,785,606 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on SRE. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 target price on Sempra Energy and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. BTIG Research upgraded Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price target on Sempra Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. UBS Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $97.00 target price (down previously from $98.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.83.

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.