First Hawaiian Bank Reduces Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

First Hawaiian Bank reduced its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 164 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 250.0% in the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the second quarter worth about $33,000. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 180.4% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its position in Sempra by 35.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley raised Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.60.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Down 1.7 %

SRE stock opened at $82.79 on Thursday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $89.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.59. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The company has a market cap of $52.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.78.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Sempra’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

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.