First Hawaiian Bank Sells 7,098 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

First Hawaiian Bank trimmed its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 33.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,046 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 7,098 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank's holdings in Sempra were worth $1,002,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Sempra by 8.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $286,695,000 after purchasing an additional 278,183 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Sempra by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,165 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 1,809 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth $29,880,000. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its holdings in Sempra by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 125,700 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,026,000 after buying an additional 5,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its holdings in Sempra by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 10,795 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $947,000 after buying an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This trade represents a 8.69% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $595,193.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Insiders acquired a total of 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Sempra Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:SRE traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $78.00. 2,756,363 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,761,814. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.18, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63. The business's fifty day moving average price is $73.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. Sempra has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra's payout ratio is presently 56.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on SRE. Argus downgraded Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 target price on shares of Sempra and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six equities research 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 a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.75.

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.