Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Forsta AP Fonden

Forsta AP Fonden lessened its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 12.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 102,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,900 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Sempra were worth $7,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Crestline Management LP raised its stake in Sempra by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 119,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,906,000 after buying an additional 14,674 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 932.2% during the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 43,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,277,000 after acquiring an additional 39,600 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Sempra during the first quarter worth $815,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in Sempra by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 41,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,079,000 after purchasing an additional 5,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Sempra in the first quarter worth $2,293,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at $1,107,357.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $82.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.41. Sempra has a 1-year low of $63.75 and a 1-year high of $84.28. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $79.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.44. The company has a market capitalization of $52.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.38, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH dropped their price target on Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Sempra from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.00.

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.