Hsbc Holdings PLC Cuts Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Hsbc Holdings PLC decreased its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,413,583 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 107,394 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.22% of Sempra worth $123,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,535,000,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Sempra by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,369,076,000 after acquiring an additional 4,082,261 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Sempra by 70.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,666,240 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $584,763,000 after acquiring an additional 2,758,037 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,797,376,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511,313 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth $123,614,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on SRE. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. Argus lowered Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group downgraded Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.31.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $72.34 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $47.16 billion, a PE ratio of 15.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.29. Sempra has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. This is an increase from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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