First American Trust FSB Trims Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

First American Trust FSB lessened its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 21.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 823 shares during the quarter. First American Trust FSB’s holdings in Sempra were worth $261,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Sempra by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,018,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,527,944,000 after buying an additional 490,269 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,324,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,870,591,000 after acquiring an additional 128,847 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Sempra by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,774,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 9.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,587,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Sempra by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,761,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,063,007,000 after purchasing an additional 145,873 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $69.30 on Wednesday. Sempra has a twelve month low of $64.89 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company’s 50 day moving average is $78.05 and its 200 day moving average is $83.40. The company has a market cap of $45.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This trade represents a 8.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have acquired 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SRE. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Argus downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.58.

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.