Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Heartland Bank & Trust Co

Heartland Bank & Trust Co lessened its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 177 shares during the period. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Sempra were worth $455,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its position in Sempra by 250.0% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 225.6% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 180.4% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its position in shares of Sempra by 35.5% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of SRE stock opened at $82.78 on Monday. Sempra has a 1-year low of $66.40 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $87.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target 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 upped their target price for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

About Sempra

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.