Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Position Trimmed by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank lowered its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,788,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 89,700 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.28% of Sempra worth $156,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Sempra by 225.6% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, 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 valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased 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 $618,823.35. The trade was a 8.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders bought 6,719 shares of company stock worth $467,180. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SRE. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sempra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

Sempra Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:SRE opened at $67.84 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $79.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.05. 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 has a 52 week low of $64.89 and a 52 week high of $95.77.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.37%.

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.