State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Lowers Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury decreased its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 288,066 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,865 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury’s holdings in Sempra were worth $25,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 360,211 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,598,000 after buying an additional 26,541 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in Sempra by 53.6% during the 4th quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 211,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,514,000 after acquiring an additional 73,633 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 33,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,968,000 after purchasing an additional 2,639 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 1,059,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,909,000 after purchasing an additional 172,489 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 47,989 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,210,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total value of $343,114.91. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,408,786.94. This trade represents a 19.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner purchased 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $618,823.35. The trade was a 8.69 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.31.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE stock opened at $70.40 on Tuesday. Sempra has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The firm has a market cap of $45.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.51, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $72.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.35. 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 announced its 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. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.37%.

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.