Reaves W H & Co. Inc. Sells 269,414 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Reaves W H & Co. Inc. lessened its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 17.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,317,858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 269,414 shares during the quarter. Sempra makes up approximately 3.1% of Reaves W H & Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. owned about 0.21% of Sempra worth $115,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SRE. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,587,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,653 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Sempra by 4.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,774,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Sempra by 201.2% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,882,000 after acquiring an additional 414,406 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in Sempra during the third quarter worth about $33,023,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Sempra by 38.3% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,420,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $118,219,000 after acquiring an additional 393,277 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Down 0.2 %

Sempra stock opened at $71.41 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.52 billion, a PE ratio of 15.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a 12-month low of $64.89 and a 12-month high of $95.77.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on SRE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.92.

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.