Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Neuberger Berman Group LLC

Neuberger Berman Group LLC lowered its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,239,475 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 751,632 shares during the quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC owned about 0.67% of Sempra worth $371,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Hawaii lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 6,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Sempra by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 10,008 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $877,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC acquired a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at $385,000. Faithward Advisors LLC grew its position in Sempra by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 3,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. acquired a new stake in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth $29,200,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $618,823.35. The trade was a 8.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lowered shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.46.

Sempra Trading Up 6.6 %

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $68.01 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.98, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. 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 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $74.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.09.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

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.