Todd Asset Management LLC Sells 1,368 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Todd Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 144,608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,368 shares during the quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $10,807,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra by 101.8% in 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 increased its stake in Sempra by 101.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 12,184,568 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 147.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,360,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $976,926,000 after buying an additional 8,546,205 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 104.0% during 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 during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 109.0% during the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 12,154,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $826,855,000 after buying an additional 6,338,545 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. Mizuho cut their target price on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays upped their target price on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.14.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $72.92. The company had a trading volume of 3,451,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,043,445. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.78. The stock has a market cap of $46.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.22, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. Sempra has a 52-week low of $63.75 and a 52-week high of $78.70.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. Sempra’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. Sempra’s payout ratio is 51.77%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,403,888.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total value of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $770,983.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total value of $360,586.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,403,888.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 122,432 shares of company stock valued at $8,668,035 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.