Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA

Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA trimmed its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 8.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 419 shares during the quarter. Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA’s holdings in Sempra were worth $343,000 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. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $29,880,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,016,000 after purchasing an additional 699 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Sempra by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra by 61.9% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 19,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,717,000 after buying an additional 7,481 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $595,193.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,260,117.94. This represents a 32.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $343,114.91. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,408,786.94. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Guggenheim decreased 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. Mizuho dropped their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Sempra and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.75.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $75.89 on Thursday. Sempra has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The firm has a market cap of $49.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.64. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.72.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. Sempra’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. Sempra’s payout ratio is 56.70%.

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.