First Command Advisory Services Inc. Trims Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

First Command Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 73.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,126 shares during the quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $35,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Sempra by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,324,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,870,591,000 after acquiring an additional 128,847 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Sempra by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,774,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,587,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,653 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,761,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,063,007,000 after purchasing an additional 145,873 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,695,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $639,921,000 after purchasing an additional 129,891 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho dropped their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim lowered their target price on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.54.

Sempra Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of SRE opened at $71.99 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $45.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day moving average of $83.43 and a 200 day moving average of $84.75. Sempra has a 52-week low of $64.89 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm’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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.