Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Has $1.68 Million Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. cut its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 17.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,186 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,123 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 250.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in Sempra by 225.6% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 180.4% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. Barclays reduced their price target on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.20.

Sempra Trading Down 0.3 %

SRE opened at $82.67 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $86.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.41. Sempra has a 1-year low of $66.40 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The company has a market cap of $52.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

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

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.63%.

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.