Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Cuts Stake in Sempra Energy $SRE

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lowered its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 24.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,565 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $2,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Pingora Partners LLC raised its position in Sempra Energy by 48.3% during the 1st quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sempra Energy during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Eastern Bank raised its position in Sempra Energy by 73.7% during the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its position in Sempra Energy by 44.7% during the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $93.98 on Wednesday. Sempra Energy has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $61.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $83.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 value of $1,291,753.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,259. This trade represents a 93.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $126,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,000. This represents a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,987 shares of company stock valued at $4,267,870 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on SRE. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $93.00 price target (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.