Pitcairn Co. Trims Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Pitcairn Co. decreased its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 13.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 535 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its position in shares of Sempra by 250.0% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in Sempra during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Sempra in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Sempra in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on SRE. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays increased their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.00.

Sempra Trading Up 1.1 %

SRE stock opened at $94.28 on Thursday. Sempra has a twelve month low of $66.40 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.07.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.