Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 6.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 298,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 20,943 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Sempra were worth $21,476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Crestline Management LP boosted its holdings in Sempra by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 119,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,906,000 after acquiring an additional 14,674 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra by 932.2% in the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 43,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,277,000 after acquiring an additional 39,600 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in Sempra by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 41,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,079,000 after acquiring an additional 5,197 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Sempra in the 1st quarter worth approximately $815,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 127,151 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,502,000 after acquiring an additional 18,760 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Sempra Stock Performance

SRE traded up $0.78 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $79.33. 969,068 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,982,260. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.22. Sempra has a 12 month low of $63.75 and a 12 month high of $80.54. The stock has a market cap of $49.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 44.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 27th were given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 27th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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