Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 275,424 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 10,650 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Sempra were worth $24,160,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GTS Securities LLC raised its stake in Sempra by 292.4% during the 4th quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 3,895 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 5,919 shares during the period. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $71,000. Vise Technologies Inc. raised its stake in Sempra by 77.8% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 4,937 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 2,161 shares during the period. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. bought a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,263,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.62.

Sempra Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of SRE traded down $1.44 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $77.47. The stock had a trading volume of 3,124,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,747,914. Sempra has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The firm has a market cap of $50.50 billion, a PE ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The stock's 50 day moving average is $72.61 and its 200 day moving average is $79.84.

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

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 26th will be given a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total value of $343,114.91. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the business'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 transaction, 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. Insiders have bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 in the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company 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.