Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. Sells 105,184 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. lessened its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 92.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,061 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 105,184 shares during the quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.'s holdings in Sempra were worth $795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra by 265.2% in the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $343,114.91. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,408,786.94. This represents a 19.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 price target on shares of Sempra and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays lowered Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Argus downgraded Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.54.

Sempra Price Performance

Sempra stock traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $75.13. 993,600 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,356,922. Sempra has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $48.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.55, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The company's fifty day moving average is $71.33 and its 200-day moving average is $81.13.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. 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%. Sempra's payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

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.