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

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $343,114.91. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $72.93 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Sempra has a 1-year low of $64.89 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization 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. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.92.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business 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 is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 target price (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays lowered Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,018,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,527,944,000 after buying an additional 490,269 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Sempra by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,369,076,000 after acquiring an additional 4,082,261 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Sempra by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,774,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Sempra by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,797,376,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,535,000,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.