Swedbank AB Has $30.93 Million Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Swedbank AB reduced its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 352,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 19,078 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Sempra were worth $30,932,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Sempra during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 250.0% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Sempra by 225.6% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 180.4% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 35.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $83.34 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.27. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The company has a market cap of $52.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.20.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.