Westpac Banking Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Westpac Banking Corp cut its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 22.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,862 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 6,536 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Sempra were worth $2,005,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in Sempra by 520.1% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 24,227 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,026,000 after purchasing an additional 20,320 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at about $433,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario grew its position in Sempra by 49.7% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 21,087 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,764,000 after acquiring an additional 7,000 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 1.0% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 51,844 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,336,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 55.6% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,636 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 3,085 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra 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 owns 2 shares of the company's stock, valued at $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho cut their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.46.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of Sempra stock traded up $4.23 on Wednesday, hitting $68.01. The stock had a trading volume of 5,983,489 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,665,012. The stock has a market cap of $44.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. Sempra has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The company's 50 day moving average price is $74.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra's payout ratio is currently 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.