New York Life Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

New York Life Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 23.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 98,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 30,829 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $7,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Sempra by 102.4% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 128,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,756,000 after purchasing an additional 65,119 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 89.6% in the 3rd quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 4,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 1,896 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in Sempra by 99.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 30,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 15,080 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in Sempra by 98.6% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 255,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,378,000 after purchasing an additional 126,796 shares during the period. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 578 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $72.88 on Friday. Sempra has a 52 week low of $63.75 and a 52 week high of $78.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.07 billion, a PE ratio of 15.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $70.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.77%.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total value of $280,353.77. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,105.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total value of $3,595,856.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 122,432 shares of company stock worth $8,668,035. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Mizuho cut their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.14.

Sempra Company 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.