Twin Capital Management Inc. Has $1.74 Million Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

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

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

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $68.46 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $70.39 and a 200-day moving average of $71.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Sempra has a twelve month low of $63.75 and a twelve month high of $79.51.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on SRE. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.50 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.14.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 34,190 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total transaction of $2,421,677.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 156,622 shares of company stock valued at $11,089,713. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.