Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Short Interest Update

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,890,000 shares, a drop of 24.0% from the February 28th total of 9,060,000 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Sempra Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of SRE stock opened at $69.65 on Monday. Sempra has a 52-week low of $64.89 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $45.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $77.23 and its 200-day moving average is $83.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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 earned $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.70%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays downgraded Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael N. Mears bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $67.70 per share, for a total transaction of $67,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $338,500. This trade represents a 25.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero bought 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,453.04. This trade represents a 19.92 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,535,000,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Sempra by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,369,076,000 after purchasing an additional 4,082,261 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Sempra by 70.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,666,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $584,763,000 after purchasing an additional 2,758,037 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Sempra by 71.3% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,651,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $408,069,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 4.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,774,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

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.