Generali Investments Management Co LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Generali Investments Management Co LLC reduced its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 38.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,009 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 13,313 shares during the period. Generali Investments Management Co LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $1,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 4.7% in the second quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 329,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,080,000 after acquiring an additional 14,932 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 31,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,374,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 407,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,123,000 after purchasing an additional 12,362 shares during the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 5,682 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 195,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,794,000 after buying an additional 19,744 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on SRE. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $101.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.42.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total transaction of $400,001.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,048,128.75. This trade represents a 27.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total value of $1,291,753.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,259. The trade was a 93.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 47,619 shares of company stock worth $4,122,392 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

SRE opened at $92.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Sempra Energy has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $89.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.04 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.14%.

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.