Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $48.80 Million Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 556,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,449 shares during the period. Sempra comprises about 1.1% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned about 0.09% of Sempra worth $48,799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 265.2% in the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Sempra by 225.6% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Pablo Ferrero purchased 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,453.04. This represents a 19.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $70.74 on Wednesday. Sempra has a one year low of $64.89 and a one year high of $95.77. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $79.04 and its 200 day moving average is $83.84. The firm has a market cap of $46.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.58, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SRE. Mizuho lowered their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Argus lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

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.