Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 937,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 74,855 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Sempra were worth $70,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PrairieView Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the third quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 119.9% during the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the third quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the third quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.50 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 34,190 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total transaction of $2,421,677.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total value of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 34,190 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $2,421,677.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 156,622 shares of company stock valued at $11,089,713. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sempra Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:SRE opened at $71.53 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $70.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Sempra has a 12 month low of $63.75 and a 12 month high of $79.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.22 billion, a PE ratio of 14.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.71.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 51.77%.

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.