Justin Christopher Bird Sells 4,817 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Stock

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $343,114.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,408,786.94. This trade represents a 19.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Sempra Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE SRE traded up $1.37 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $72.93. 4,726,239 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,593,272. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. Sempra has a 12-month low of $64.89 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $76.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.99. The firm has a market cap of $47.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The company 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 265.2% in the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group restated 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays downgraded shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sempra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.33.

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.