Ieq Capital LLC Sells 11,020 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Ieq Capital LLC decreased its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 60.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,020 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $731,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 8,093.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 52,520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,392,000 after purchasing an additional 51,879 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 17.8% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 17,804 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,489,000 after buying an additional 2,693 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in Sempra by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Sempra by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 51,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,289,000 after acquiring an additional 8,587 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, 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. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Stock Down 18.9 %

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $70.67 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $44.76 billion, a PE ratio of 15.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a 52-week low of $64.89 and a 52-week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business 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 company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Sempra’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.20.

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.