Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 383 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Sempra by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,324,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,870,591,000 after buying an additional 128,847 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Sempra by 4.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,774,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra by 9.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,587,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,653 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,761,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,063,007,000 after acquiring an additional 145,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Sempra by 1.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,695,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $639,921,000 after purchasing an additional 129,891 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on SRE. Barclays cut their price target on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley raised Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $91.20.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $70.67 on Wednesday. Sempra has a 1 year low of $64.89 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $44.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $83.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.93.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sempra Company 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.