New York Life Investment Management LLC Has $7.33 Million Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

New York Life Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 23.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 98,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 30,829 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $7,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 101.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,117,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,225,884,000 after buying an additional 31,334,782 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Sempra by 101.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,206,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,646,750,000 after acquiring an additional 12,184,568 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 147.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,360,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $976,926,000 after acquiring an additional 8,546,205 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC grew its position in Sempra by 104.0% during the third quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 14,416,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $980,756,000 after buying an additional 7,348,746 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 109.0% in the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 12,154,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $826,855,000 after buying an additional 6,338,545 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Sempra news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 18,145 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,105.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total value of $3,595,856.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 122,432 shares of company stock valued at $8,668,035 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of SRE stock opened at $72.88 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.77. The stock has a market cap of $46.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.70. Sempra has a 12 month low of $63.75 and a 12 month high of $78.70.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Mizuho lowered their price target on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

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.