Insider Selling: Sempra (NYSE:SRE) EVP Sells 4,817 Shares of Stock

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $343,114.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,408,786.94. The trade was a 19.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Sempra Trading Down 3.0 %

SRE stock traded down $1.99 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $63.89. The stock had a trading volume of 9,770,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,647,229. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $41.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $75.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.57. Sempra has a 1-year low of $62.26 and a 1-year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. This is a positive change from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra's payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new stake in Sempra in the first quarter valued at $89,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Sempra by 4,338.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 592,074 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,250,000 after buying an additional 578,733 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its holdings in Sempra by 109.9% in the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 745 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in Sempra by 20.8% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its position in shares of Sempra by 5.2% during the first quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 25,602 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,827,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lowered shares of Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.33.

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.