Cambiar Investors LLC Sells 887 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Cambiar Investors LLC reduced its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 581,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 887 shares during the quarter. Sempra makes up about 1.7% of Cambiar Investors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Cambiar Investors LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $43,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Sempra by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,141,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $191,963,000 after acquiring an additional 6,246 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 780.0% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,804 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 1,599 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the 1st quarter valued at $782,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 668,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $112,411,000 after buying an additional 23,431 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 77.4% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 13,575 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,276,000 after buying an additional 5,924 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SRE shares. 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 report on Tuesday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com cut Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on Sempra in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.50 target price on the stock. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of Sempra 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 156,622 shares of company stock valued at $11,089,713. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of Sempra stock traded down $0.32 during trading on Friday, reaching $70.52. 2,795,050 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,986,465. The company has a market capitalization of $44.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Sempra has a 52-week low of $63.75 and a 52-week high of $79.51.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 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.