Diana L. Day Sells 8,015 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Stock

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $595,193.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,260,117.94. This represents a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $76.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The business’s 50 day moving average is $71.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.27. The company has a market capitalization of $49.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.12. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be given a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.70%.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,535,000,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Sempra by 26.8% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,686,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,474,236,000 after purchasing an additional 10,278,893 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Sempra by 70.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,666,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $584,763,000 after purchasing an additional 2,758,037 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Sempra in the 1st quarter valued at $192,130,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 71.3% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,651,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $408,069,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,865 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim cut 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. Mizuho cut their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Argus lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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, February 26th. Finally, Barclays lowered Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.77.

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.