Lbp Am Sa Lowers Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Lbp Am Sa decreased its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 51.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 81,858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 85,844 shares during the period. Lbp Am Sa’s holdings in Sempra were worth $7,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 7,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 6,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 0.3% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,890,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $70.30 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $79.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.97. 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 company has a market cap of $45.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a 52-week low of $64.89 and a 52-week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. 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 dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lowered shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael N. Mears purchased 1,000 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $67.70 per share, with a total value of $67,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $338,500. This represents a 25.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 6,719 shares of company stock worth $467,180 in the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.