Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC decreased its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,413,583 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 107,394 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.22% of Sempra worth $123,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 1.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,407,666 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $201,352,000 after buying an additional 45,884 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter valued at about $246,000. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra during the third quarter worth $6,029,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the third quarter valued at about $380,000. Finally, Blankinship & Foster LLC purchased a new position in Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth $1,338,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Sempra Trading Up 0.6 %

Sempra stock traded up $0.43 during trading on Monday, hitting $75.11. The company had a trading volume of 1,368,511 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,714,850. The stock has a market cap of $48.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $71.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.13. Sempra has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a positive change from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.37%.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. The trade was a 8.69 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $343,114.91. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,778 shares in the company, valued at $1,408,786.94. The trade was a 19.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on SRE. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group lowered Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Argus downgraded Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.54.

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.