Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Sells 5,057 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co decreased its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 24.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,057 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 195.1% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 419 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Rational Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its holdings in Sempra by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SRE shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Sempra from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at $1,107,357.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Sempra news, Director Richard J. Mark bought 1,925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $77.97 per share, for a total transaction of $150,092.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $422,597.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Down 0.2 %

SRE stock traded down $0.16 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $80.06. 2,159,403 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,977,745. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Sempra has a 1 year low of $63.75 and a 1 year high of $80.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.77, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.74.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.01). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.95% and a net margin of 20.99%. The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was down 44.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.8 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 27th were issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 27th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.93%.

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.