Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 14,449 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System decreased its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 556,301 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 14,449 shares during the period. Sempra comprises 1.1% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned about 0.09% of Sempra worth $48,799,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 265.2% during the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SRE shares. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group cut Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays cut Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.58.

Remove Ads

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, Director Pablo Ferrero bought 2,600 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,453.04. This trade represents a 19.92 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE SRE traded down $0.44 on Friday, reaching $69.56. The stock had a trading volume of 7,235,223 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,352,476. 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 fifty day moving average of $78.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.58. Sempra has a 1-year low of $64.89 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The company has a market cap of $45.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a positive change from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is 58.37%.

About Sempra

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.