Vontobel Holding Ltd. Reduces Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 438 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $228,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Plancorp LLC raised its position in Sempra by 4.7% during the first quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 1,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 1.2% in the first quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 9,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,410,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthsource Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wealthsource Partners LLC now owns 2,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on SRE shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.50 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total value of $4,063,936.89. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 34,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $2,421,677.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $141.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 156,622 shares of company stock worth $11,089,713 over the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Trading Up 2.4 %

SRE stock opened at $70.09 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $44.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.52. Sempra has a 52 week low of $63.75 and a 52 week high of $79.43.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. Sempra’s payout ratio is 51.77%.

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.