Public Sector Pension Investment Board Sells 51,709 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board cut its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 31.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 110,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 51,709 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Sempra were worth $9,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 265,005 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,162,000 after purchasing an additional 12,779 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its position in Sempra by 240.8% in the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 10,247 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $857,000 after purchasing an additional 7,240 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in Sempra by 0.7% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 41,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,462,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 45.2% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 31,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,621,000 after buying an additional 9,758 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 1.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 881,364 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,708,000 after buying an additional 13,077 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $93.77 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.39 billion, a PE ratio of 20.65, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $86.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $66.40 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on SRE shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.00.

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.