Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Corient Private Wealth LLC

Corient Private Wealth LLC reduced its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 625,852 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 21,094 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Sempra worth $54,896,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SRE. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in Sempra by 180.4% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE traded down $0.35 during trading on Thursday, reaching $70.10. The stock had a trading volume of 6,075,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,335,969. Sempra has a one year low of $64.89 and a one year high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $45.67 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $78.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.75.

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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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This is an increase from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on SRE. Argus lowered Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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 report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays downgraded 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 report on Thursday, February 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.58.

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.