Nordea Investment Management AB Reduces Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Nordea Investment Management AB cut its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 31.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 777,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 359,514 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Sempra were worth $68,129,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its stake in Sempra by 250.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Sempra in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 180.4% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Sempra by 35.5% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $84.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.28 billion, a PE ratio of 18.53, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $89.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.59. 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 fifty-two week low of $66.40 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on SRE. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays increased their price target on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.60.

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.