Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Cuts Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,277 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 548 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Sempra were worth $4,322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 1.6% during 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 period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 8,093.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 52,520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,392,000 after buying an additional 51,879 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew 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. Arkadios Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at about $351,000. Finally, PFG Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at about $301,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.54.

Sempra Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $71.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $83.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.75. Sempra has a 52-week low of $64.89 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.86, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 56.11%.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.