Sempra (NYSE:SRE) CEO Sells $4,125,186.78 in Stock

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Sempra Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:SRE traded up $1.36 during trading on Thursday, reaching $83.34. The stock had a trading volume of 2,189,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,169,521. 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $87.06 and its 200 day moving average is $84.27. The stock has a market cap of $52.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.78.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SRE. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 250.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 225.6% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its position in Sempra by 180.4% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays dropped their target price on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. One equities 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 $91.20.

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.