Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Amica Retiree Medical Trust

Amica Retiree Medical Trust reduced its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 653 shares during the quarter. Amica Retiree Medical Trust’s holdings in Sempra were worth $658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Sempra by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 31,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,649,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the third quarter worth $81,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 55.7% during the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 7,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $592,000 after buying an additional 2,530 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 117,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,808,000 after acquiring an additional 9,342 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth $466,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on SRE. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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 research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 price objective (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

SRE opened at $70.76 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $46.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.59, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a 52-week low of $64.89 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.31. 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 released 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. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.