Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Holdings Cut by World Investment Advisors

World Investment Advisors reduced its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 94.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 68,418 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Sempra were worth $322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SRE. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Sempra by 265.2% during the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lowered Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 price target (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’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 directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Down 0.4 %

Sempra stock opened at $63.67 on Wednesday. Sempra has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $41.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $74.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.30. 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 (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. The firm 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 58.37%.

Sempra 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.