Raiffeisen Bank International AG Cuts Stock Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Raiffeisen Bank International AG lessened its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 12.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,502 shares during the quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $816,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Sempra Energy by 10.3% during the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 5,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 21.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,656,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $260,950,000 after buying an additional 648,530 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 3,495,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $249,435,000 after buying an additional 229,045 shares during the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 2,182,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $155,739,000 after acquiring an additional 52,838 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 46.0% during the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,676,000 after acquiring an additional 11,811 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SRE. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $101.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.42.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $91.59 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $89.96 and a 200 day moving average of $82.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $59.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68. Sempra Energy has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of Sempra Energy 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 11,325 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,048,128.75. This trade represents a 27.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total value of $2,430,637.44. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,303,149.75. The trade was a 65.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,619 shares of company stock valued at $4,122,392. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.