Jeffrey W. Martin Sells 49,737 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Stock

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) 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 value of $4,125,186.78. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Sempra Stock Performance

Sempra stock traded up $1.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $83.34. 2,189,287 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,169,521. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.27. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $66.40 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $52.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.78.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company posted $1.08 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SRE. Evercore ISI increased 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised 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 report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SRE. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,587,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,653 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 4.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,774,974,000 after buying an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Sempra by 201.2% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,882,000 after buying an additional 414,406 shares in the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA bought a new position in Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth $33,023,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 38.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,420,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $118,219,000 after acquiring an additional 393,277 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.