Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Lowers Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky trimmed its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 8.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 141,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,915 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Sempra were worth $10,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Sempra by 195.1% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 419 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sempra during the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in Sempra by 34.5% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Transactions 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 transaction of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at $1,107,357.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Richard J. Mark acquired 1,925 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $77.97 per share, with a total value 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

SRE stock traded up $0.26 during trading on Friday, hitting $81.74. 2,695,386 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,744,951. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Sempra has a 52 week low of $63.75 and a 52 week high of $83.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $76.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 27th were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 27th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.93%.

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.