Sempra (NYSE:SRE) CEO Sells $4,125,186.78 in Stock

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Sempra Stock Performance

SRE opened at $82.87 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $52.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s fifty day moving average is $86.60 and its 200-day moving average is $84.31. Sempra has a 52-week low of $66.40 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.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SRE. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,587,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,653 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Sempra by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,774,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,026 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 201.2% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,882,000 after buying an additional 414,406 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the third quarter worth $33,023,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 38.3% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,420,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $118,219,000 after buying an additional 393,277 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.20.

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.