Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Sells 149 Shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lowered its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 149 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,535,000,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Sempra Energy by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,369,076,000 after acquiring an additional 4,082,261 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Sempra Energy by 70.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,666,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $584,763,000 after acquiring an additional 2,758,037 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 71.3% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,651,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $408,069,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,865 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,797,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511,313 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $88.00 price objective (up from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Argus cut shares of Sempra Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra Energy news, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $595,193.90. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,969 shares in the company, valued at $1,260,117.94. This trade represents a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 1.0%

SRE opened at $75.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $49.25 billion, a PE ratio of 16.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.95.

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

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 56.70%.

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.