Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Lowers Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 556,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,449 shares during the quarter. Sempra accounts for about 1.1% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Sempra were worth $48,799,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra by 265.2% during the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Sempra by 225.6% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero purchased 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $70.96 per share, for a total transaction of $184,496.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,453.04. This represents a 19.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $70.74 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a 52-week low of $64.89 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $79.04 and a 200 day moving average of $83.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lowered Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Guggenheim cut their price target on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

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.