Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Sells 18,678 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lowered its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 131,653 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 18,678 shares during the quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY's holdings in Sempra were worth $9,838,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Sempra by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Plancorp LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 1,992 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 1.2% in the first quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 9,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,410,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthsource Partners LLC raised its position in Sempra by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthsource Partners LLC now owns 2,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised Sempra from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Sempra from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. Barclays upped their price target on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total value of $280,353.77. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total value of $3,595,856.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company's stock, valued at $141.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 156,622 shares of company stock valued at $11,089,713. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE stock traded up $0.91 on Tuesday, reaching $71.68. 4,391,216 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,937,964. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $70.71 and a 200-day moving average of $71.56. The firm has a market cap of $45.31 billion, a PE ratio of 14.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Sempra has a twelve month low of $63.75 and a twelve month high of $79.51.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. This is an increase from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 20th. Sempra's payout ratio is presently 51.77%.

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.