One Degree Advisors Inc Cuts Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

One Degree Advisors Inc trimmed its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 13.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 13,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,126 shares during the quarter. Sempra comprises about 0.4% of One Degree Advisors Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. One Degree Advisors Inc’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,018,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,527,944,000 after purchasing an additional 490,269 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,369,076,000 after buying an additional 4,082,261 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,797,376,000 after buying an additional 1,511,313 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at $1,535,000,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra by 2.4% in the 4th 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.

Sempra Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $63.67 on Wednesday. Sempra has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $41.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.02, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a fifty day moving average of $74.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on SRE. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.33.

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.