Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Decreases Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lowered its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 72.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,069 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,745 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Sempra were worth $77,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $958,253,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Sempra by 101.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,206,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,646,750,000 after buying an additional 12,184,568 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Sempra by 101.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,334,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $703,034,000 after buying an additional 5,197,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Sempra by 84.1% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,987,355 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $679,440,000 after buying an additional 4,562,759 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, Director Richard J. Mark purchased 1,925 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $77.97 per share, with a total value of $150,092.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $422,597.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Richard J. Mark acquired 1,925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $77.97 per share, for a total transaction of $150,092.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $422,597.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.10.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $76.44 on Tuesday. Sempra has a 52-week low of $63.75 and a 52-week high of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $48.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a fifty day moving average of $74.60 and a 200-day moving average of $72.94.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.95% and a net margin of 20.99%. The business’s revenue was down 44.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 27th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 27th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.93%.

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.