Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Insigneo Advisory Services LLC

Insigneo Advisory Services LLC trimmed its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 410 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,535,000,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Sempra by 11.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 4,082,261 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Sempra by 70.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,666,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $584,763,000 after acquiring an additional 2,758,037 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,797,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at $123,614,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $71.14 on Friday. Sempra has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. 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 company has a market cap of $46.38 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.45.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. 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 3.63%. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.31.

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.