Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Cuts Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lowered its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,979 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 560 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $970,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. WFA of San Diego LLC lifted its stake in Sempra by 29.9% in the third quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC now owns 2,439 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. lifted its stake in Sempra by 100.0% in the third quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 68,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,673,000 after acquiring an additional 34,348 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC lifted its stake in Sempra by 93.7% in the third quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 2,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $149,000 after acquiring an additional 1,062 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its stake in Sempra by 114.4% in the third quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 32,782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,230,000 after acquiring an additional 17,491 shares during the period. Finally, Ausbil Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in Sempra by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 172,129 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,469 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 34,190 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $2,421,677.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 34,190 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $2,421,677.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total value of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 18,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,292,105.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 156,622 shares of company stock worth $11,089,713 over the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on SRE. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.50 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.14.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $68.11 on Tuesday. Sempra has a 1-year low of $63.75 and a 1-year high of $79.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $70.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.54. The company has a market capitalization of $43.06 billion, a PE ratio of 14.22, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.71.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.77%.

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.