Cullen Capital Management LLC Sells 1,707 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Cullen Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,749 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,707 shares during the quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $4,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth about $433,000. IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 55.6% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 3,085 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 38.2% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 30,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,559,000 after purchasing an additional 8,456 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 469,214 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,241,000 after purchasing an additional 20,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,539,026 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Argus cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 price target (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.33.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sempra Trading Down 6.8 %

Shares of SRE stock opened at $65.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $75.87 and its 200 day moving average is $82.71. Sempra has a 12-month low of $64.89 and a 12-month high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. Research 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 issued a $0.645 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 3.92%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

Sempra 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.