Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Lowers Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 320,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 24,650 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $28,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Sempra by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 7,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $651,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 6,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $586,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,210 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price 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 decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 price objective (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, Director Michael N. Mears purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $67.70 per share, for a total transaction of $67,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $338,500. The trade was a 25.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available 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 stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 bought a total of 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $69.65 on Monday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $64.89 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $45.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $77.23 and a 200-day moving average of $83.15.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

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.