Sandy Spring Bank Trims Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Sandy Spring Bank cut its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 247 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 265.2% in the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 225.6% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michael N. Mears bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $67.70 per share, for a total transaction of $67,700.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $338,500. This represents a 25.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SRE. Barclays downgraded shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 price target (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.58.

Sempra Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE SRE opened at $70.10 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. Sempra has a 52 week low of $64.89 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.67 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $78.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.66.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

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.