Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Sells 2,086 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,868 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,086 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $6,655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 250.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. 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 acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in Sempra by 180.4% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 target price (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.92.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm’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 transaction 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. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of SRE opened at $71.41 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $82.82 and its 200 day moving average is $84.73. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $64.89 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.52 billion, a PE ratio of 15.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s payout ratio is 58.37%.

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.