Moody National Bank Trust Division Has $2.14 Million Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Moody National Bank Trust Division cut its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 24,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 939 shares during the quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Sempra were worth $2,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Sempra by 739.7% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 15,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,153,000 after buying an additional 13,374 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Sempra by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 504,363 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,362,000 after buying an additional 34,457 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA lifted its position in Sempra by 1,027.6% during the 2nd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 5,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 5,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Sempra by 36.9% in the second quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,381 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $866,000 after purchasing an additional 3,065 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.60.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE traded down $1.50 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $77.23. 4,085,057 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,392,818. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week 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.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

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.