Cornerstone Advisors LLC Sells 11,400 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Cornerstone Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 20.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,400 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $3,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Spirepoint Private Client LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the first quarter worth about $982,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Sempra by 40.8% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 43,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,092,000 after buying an additional 12,468 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Sempra in the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,630,000. M&G Plc bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the 1st quarter worth $64,994,000. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 1st quarter valued at $648,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $457,927.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Sempra news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,107,357.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard J. Mark purchased 1,925 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $77.97 per share, for a total transaction of $150,092.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,420 shares in the company, valued at $422,597.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE SRE traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $77.57. 1,559,553 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,911,866. Sempra has a 12-month low of $63.75 and a 12-month high of $79.46. The firm has a market cap of $48.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $76.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.62.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.95% and a net margin of 20.99%. The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 44.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 27th were issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 27th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho increased their target price on Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Sempra from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH dropped their target price on Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.10.

Sempra Company 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.