Toronto Dominion Bank Cuts Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Toronto Dominion Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 4.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 201,312 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,428 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Sempra were worth $14,460,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra by 3.4% during the first quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in Sempra by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 38,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,854,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 18,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,391,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Presima Securities ULC lifted its stake in Sempra by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 5,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $415,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Sempra news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Richard J. Mark acquired 1,925 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $77.97 per share, with a total value of $150,092.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $422,597.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of Sempra stock traded up $0.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $78.55. The stock had a trading volume of 2,413,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,996,338. The business has a fifty day moving average of $76.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.27. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $63.75 and a fifty-two week high of $80.54. The firm has a market cap of $49.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.40, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 8.95%. Sempra’s revenue was down 44.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 27th were given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 27th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on SRE. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reduced their price objective on Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Mizuho raised their target price on Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.10.

Sempra Company 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.