Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 38,062 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 455,536 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 38,062 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Sempra Energy worth $34,516,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 63.9% in the second quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $948,000 after acquiring an additional 4,865 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,959,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $299,981,000 after purchasing an additional 184,313 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 143,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,851,000 after purchasing an additional 3,866 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.9% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,276,057 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $96,687,000 after purchasing an additional 24,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mufg Securities Americas Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 28.9% during the second quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 14,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 3,241 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra Energy news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total value of $400,001.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,048,128.75. This trade represents a 27.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.70, for a total transaction of $45,850.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 33,664 shares in the company, valued at $3,086,988.80. This trade represents a 1.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 62,693 shares of company stock worth $5,507,997 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 1.7%

Sempra Energy stock opened at $94.11 on Tuesday. Sempra Energy has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $90.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.73, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note 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. Morgan Stanley set a $98.00 price objective on Sempra Energy in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $99.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Sempra Energy from $101.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.92.

About Sempra Energy

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.