FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Has $444,000 Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lessened its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,056 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 226 shares during the quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Sempra were worth $444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its position in Sempra by 250.0% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Sempra by 225.6% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in Sempra by 180.4% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 35.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the company’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 value of $2,207,443.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $85.24 on Friday. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.73. Sempra has a 12-month low of $66.40 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The company has a market cap of $53.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.78.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. Sempra’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Sempra’s payout ratio is 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.