Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Reduces Stake in Sempra Energy $SRE

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 36.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,820 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,591 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $197,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In related news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $126,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president 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. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of Sempra Energy stock opened at $81.76 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $53.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.75, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.62. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.69.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.