Morey & Quinn Wealth Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Morey & Quinn Wealth Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Morey & Quinn Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $201,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 5.1% in the first quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 3,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 65.1% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $371,000 after buying an additional 2,046 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the first quarter worth about $384,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 462.0% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $753,000 after buying an additional 8,671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 3.2% in the first quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,722 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $93.36 on Thursday. 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 $60.91 billion, a PE ratio of 22.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.74. 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.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owned 15,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,248,000. The trade was a 9.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 49,987 shares of company stock valued at $4,267,870. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday. 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. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $93.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.09.

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.