One Degree Advisors Inc Cuts Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

One Degree Advisors Inc lowered its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 13.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,126 shares during the quarter. Sempra comprises approximately 0.4% of One Degree Advisors Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. One Degree Advisors Inc’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SRE. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 265.2% in the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of SRE opened at $63.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. 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 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $74.78 and a 200 day moving average of $82.30.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Argus downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.33.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 8,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This trade represents a 8.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders bought 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.