Wells Fargo & Company MN Sells 60,809 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Wells Fargo & Company MN lessened its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,671,033 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 60,809 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in Sempra were worth $146,583,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 265.2% in the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’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 approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total value of $343,114.91. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,408,786.94. This trade represents a 19.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SRE. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.33.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $65.89 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $42.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. Sempra has a twelve month low of $64.89 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $75.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.70.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

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.