Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Versant Capital Management Inc

Versant Capital Management Inc lowered its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 41.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 421 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Sempra were worth $42,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Sempra by 8.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $286,695,000 after acquiring an additional 278,183 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth $29,880,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 43.5% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 328,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,716,000 after purchasing an additional 25,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,029 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. Guggenheim decreased their price target on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Argus lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.75.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $75.81 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $49.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.70, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.22. Sempra has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.90 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 56.70%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $595,193.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,260,117.94. The trade was a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total value of $343,114.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,408,786.94. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 8,619 shares of company stock valued at $602,221. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Company 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.