Bull Oak Capital LLC Sells 2,736 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Bull Oak Capital LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 54.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,323 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,736 shares during the period. Sempra accounts for 0.1% of Bull Oak Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Bull Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew 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 worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SRE. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.31.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Trading Up 2.9 %

SRE opened at $72.70 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $46.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.01, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a 12 month low of $64.89 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $83.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.84.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s payout ratio is 56.11%.

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.