Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Holdings Reduced by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,971,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,631 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.47% of Sempra worth $222,096,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 97.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 12,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $849,000 after purchasing an additional 6,163 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 118.6% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,279,000 after acquiring an additional 10,198 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Sempra by 119.9% during the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Sempra by 123.5% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $442,000 after purchasing an additional 3,591 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 118.0% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 4,704 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 2,546 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total value of $4,063,936.89. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at $770,983.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total value of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 156,622 shares of company stock valued at $11,089,713 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.14.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE stock traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $71.75. The company had a trading volume of 461,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,939,420. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.85, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.71. Sempra has a 12 month low of $63.75 and a 12 month high of $79.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.54. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $70.40 and its 200 day moving average is $71.63.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.02. Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 51.77%.

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.