Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Smith Moore & CO.

Smith Moore & CO. reduced its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 56.8% in the fourth quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 32,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,737,000 after acquiring an additional 11,879 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Sempra by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,509,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $395,551,000 after purchasing an additional 173,906 shares during the period. Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth $515,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,072,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,143,248,000 after purchasing an additional 311,094 shares during the period. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its position in Sempra by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 11,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $956,000 after purchasing an additional 669 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $65.89 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $75.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $42.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a 52-week low of $64.89 and a 52-week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company 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 is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, Director Pablo Ferrero bought 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.96 per share, for a total transaction of $184,496.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,453.04. This trade represents a 19.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal 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 on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SRE. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Argus downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.33.

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.