JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 171,575 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,256,557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 171,575 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.51% of Sempra worth $285,665,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,143,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $100,280,000 after purchasing an additional 90,941 shares during the period. TrueMark Investments LLC bought a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,393,000. Morey & Quinn Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Ipsen Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth approximately $736,000. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 83,510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,325,000 after acquiring an additional 18,947 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $69.65 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a 1-year low of $64.89 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sempra’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $618,823.35. The trade was a 8.69 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 over the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SRE shares. Argus lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 price target (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays lowered Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.33.

Sempra 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.