Insigneo Advisory Services LLC Sells 410 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Insigneo Advisory Services LLC lowered its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 410 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $278,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Sempra by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,407,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,352,000 after buying an additional 45,884 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the third quarter valued at about $246,000. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the third quarter worth about $6,029,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth about $380,000. Finally, Blankinship & Foster LLC bought a new stake in Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,338,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Up 1.1 %

SRE stock opened at $71.14 on Friday. Sempra has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $72.42 and its 200-day moving average is $81.45. The firm has a market cap of $46.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. Sempra’s payout ratio is 58.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays downgraded Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Argus lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. The trade was a 8.69 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra 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.