Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp reduced its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,610 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Sempra were worth $2,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,018,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,527,944,000 after acquiring an additional 490,269 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Sempra by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,369,076,000 after acquiring an additional 4,082,261 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,797,376,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511,313 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,535,000,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,072,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,143,248,000 after acquiring an additional 311,094 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $343,114.91. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,408,786.94. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $595,193.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,260,117.94. The trade was a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $73.94 on Friday. Sempra has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $48.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $74.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.90 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Argus cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 price target on Sempra and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.75.

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.