Wedbush Securities Inc. Trims Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Wedbush Securities Inc. lowered its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,183 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,555,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SRE. Guggenheim lowered their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 target price (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Argus cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total value of $343,114.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,408,786.94. This represents a 19.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Trading Down 6.8 %

Shares of SRE opened at $65.89 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $75.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.71. The stock has a market cap of $42.93 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. 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 has a 52-week low of $64.89 and a 52-week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.92%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

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.