Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC Sells 560 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC cut its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 560 shares during the quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Sempra in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its position in shares of Sempra by 250.0% in 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 during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in Sempra by 225.6% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in Sempra by 180.4% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Sempra by 35.5% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on SRE. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE stock opened at $85.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Sempra has a 1 year low of $66.40 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The company’s 50-day moving average is $88.62 and its 200-day moving average is $83.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.99 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.78.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

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.