PFG Investments LLC Trims Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

PFG Investments LLC trimmed its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 32.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,176 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stablepoint Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 16,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,486,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Sempra by 633.4% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,624,000 after buying an additional 25,838 shares during the period. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,669,000. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 21,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,829,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays cut their price target on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.20.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $82.87 on Friday. Sempra has a twelve month low of $66.40 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $52.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.78. 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 has a 50-day moving average price of $86.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.31.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 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 down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

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.