Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Twin Capital Management Inc.

Twin Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 343 shares during the quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,741,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 101.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,117,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,225,884,000 after acquiring an additional 31,334,782 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 101.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,206,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,646,750,000 after acquiring an additional 12,184,568 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 104.0% during the 3rd quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 14,416,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $980,756,000 after acquiring an additional 7,348,746 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 147.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,360,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $976,926,000 after acquiring an additional 8,546,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 109.0% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 12,154,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $826,855,000 after acquiring an additional 6,338,545 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 18,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total value of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 18,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 156,622 shares of company stock valued at $11,089,713 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $68.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $43.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.54. Sempra has a 1 year low of $63.75 and a 1 year high of $79.51.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.02. Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on SRE. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.14.

About Sempra

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.