Greystone Financial Group LLC Sells 16,055 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Greystone Financial Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 11.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 121,358 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 16,055 shares during the period. Greystone Financial Group LLC's holdings in Sempra were worth $8,660,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Sempra by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $286,695,000 after acquiring an additional 278,183 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $29,880,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Sempra by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 709 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 11,367 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $997,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,300,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, Director Pablo Ferrero acquired 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $70.96 per share, for a total transaction of $184,496.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,453.04. The trade was a 19.92% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $595,193.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 16,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,260,117.94. This represents a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. Argus cut shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group cut Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 price objective on Sempra and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays downgraded Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.75.

Sempra Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $76.82 on Monday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $73.73 and a 200-day moving average of $78.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.92, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.64. Sempra has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. Sempra's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 26th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is presently 56.70%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SRE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.