First Command Advisory Services Inc. Cuts Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

First Command Advisory Services Inc. lowered its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 73.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,126 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $35,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its position in Sempra by 250.0% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in Sempra by 225.6% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 180.4% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SRE. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price target on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.54.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Trading Down 1.2 %

Sempra stock opened at $71.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a 52 week low of $64.89 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $45.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $83.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.11%.

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.