New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 74,855 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 937,293 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 74,855 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.15% of Sempra worth $70,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. WFA of San Diego LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 29.9% in the third quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC now owns 2,439 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its holdings in Sempra by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 68,696 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,673,000 after purchasing an additional 34,348 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 114.4% during the 3rd quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 32,782 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,230,000 after acquiring an additional 17,491 shares in the last quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in Sempra by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 172,129 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT bought a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,715,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of SRE traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $72.04. The company had a trading volume of 2,318,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,963,505. Sempra has a 1-year low of $63.75 and a 1-year high of $79.38. The stock has a market cap of $45.54 billion, a PE ratio of 15.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.66. 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 (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. Sempra's revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. This is a positive change from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Sempra's payout ratio is presently 51.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company's stock, valued at $141.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $141.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total value of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at $770,983.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 156,622 shares of company stock valued at $11,089,713 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the subject of several analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $81.50 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Sempra from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Sempra from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sempra currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $82.14.

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.