Ieq Capital LLC Decreases Stake in Sempra Energy $SRE

Ieq Capital LLC reduced its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 27.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,986 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy during the first quarter worth about $38,000. Eastern Bank increased its position in Sempra Energy by 73.7% during the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $81.06 on Friday. Sempra Energy has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $52.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SRE shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. The trade was a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $126,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,248,000. This trade represents a 9.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.