First Horizon Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 16.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 158 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $60,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 100.0% in the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. increased its stake in Sempra by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Wolverine Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in Sempra by 85.6% in the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $73.99 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Sempra has a 12-month low of $63.75 and a 12-month high of $78.70.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a $0.62 dividend. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. 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

In other Sempra news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $280,353.77. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total value of $360,586.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,712 shares in the company, valued at $1,403,888.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 122,432 shares of company stock worth $8,668,035 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.14.

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.