Legal & General Group Plc Sells 282,570 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 4.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,929,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 282,570 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.91% of Sempra Energy worth $449,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Sempra Energy by 51.2% in 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. Pingora Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 48.3% during the first quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 245.1% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 230.8% in the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 74.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.58, for a total transaction of $503,690.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 34,164 shares in the company, valued at $3,128,739.12. This represents a 13.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total transaction of $2,430,637.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,303,149.75. This trade represents a 65.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 55,129 shares of company stock valued at $4,809,916 over the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Sempra Energy stock opened at $92.54 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.54. Sempra Energy has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The company has a market cap of $60.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.35, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.27. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 11th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 11th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $98.00 price target on Sempra Energy in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BTIG Research raised Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two research 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 MarketBeat, Sempra Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.33.

Sempra Energy 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.