Securian Asset Management Inc. Lowers Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Securian Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 34,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 975 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $2,986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 225.6% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 180.4% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lowered shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 price objective (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This trade represents a 8.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $69.00 on Thursday. Sempra has a twelve month low of $64.89 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The company’s 50 day moving average is $80.31 and its 200 day moving average is $84.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $44.95 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 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.