Amalgamated Bank Decreases Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Amalgamated Bank trimmed its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 152,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,982 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Sempra were worth $11,399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 100.0% in the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. raised its stake in Sempra by 100.0% in the third quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 85.6% during the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. StockNews.com cut Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays upped their target price on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE traded up $0.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $72.92. 3,451,910 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,043,445. Sempra has a 12-month low of $63.75 and a 12-month high of $78.70. The company has a market cap of $46.10 billion, a PE ratio of 15.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $70.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.77%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $770,983.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 122,432 shares of company stock valued at $8,668,035 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.