Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 26.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,853 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 101.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,117,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,225,884,000 after purchasing an additional 31,334,782 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Sempra by 101.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,206,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,646,750,000 after buying an additional 12,184,568 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Sempra by 147.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,360,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $976,926,000 after buying an additional 8,546,205 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 104.0% in the third quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 14,416,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $980,756,000 after buying an additional 7,348,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 109.0% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 12,154,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $826,855,000 after acquiring an additional 6,338,545 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.50 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.14.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $71.32 on Friday. Sempra has a 1 year low of $63.75 and a 1 year high of $79.30. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.68. The company has a market capitalization of $45.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.89, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.54.

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 company had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. Sempra’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.82 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 paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total value of $3,595,856.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of Sempra 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 122,432 shares of company stock worth $8,668,035 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.