Mechanics Bank Trust Department Sells 640 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Mechanics Bank Trust Department trimmed its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 640 shares during the quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Sempra were worth $789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the third quarter worth $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its position in Sempra by 250.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra by 225.6% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 180.4% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 35.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.60.

Sempra Trading Up 1.5 %

Sempra stock opened at $85.24 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $53.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $88.50 and a 200-day moving average of $83.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Sempra has a one year low of $66.40 and a one year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

About Sempra

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.