Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Stake Lowered by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. decreased its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 34.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,570 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,575 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Sempra by 101.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,117,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,225,884,000 after buying an additional 31,334,782 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 101.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,206,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,646,750,000 after acquiring an additional 12,184,568 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 147.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,360,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $976,926,000 after acquiring an additional 8,546,205 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 104.0% during the third quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 14,416,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $980,756,000 after acquiring an additional 7,348,746 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 109.0% during the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 12,154,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $826,855,000 after acquiring an additional 6,338,545 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $71.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $70.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.70. Sempra has a 52 week low of $63.75 and a 52 week high of $79.30. The stock has a market cap of $45.08 billion, a PE ratio of 14.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.71.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 51.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SRE shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Mizuho reduced 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. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 122,432 shares of company stock worth $8,668,035. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.