Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Sells 8,896 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. cut its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 190,123 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,896 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $16,678,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $731,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Sempra by 8,093.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 52,520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,392,000 after buying an additional 51,879 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Sempra by 17.8% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 17,804 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,489,000 after buying an additional 2,693 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors bought a new position in Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth $351,000. Finally, PFG Investments LLC acquired a new position in Sempra in the 3rd quarter valued at $301,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $71.99 on Friday. Sempra has a 52-week low of $64.89 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $45.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $83.43 and a 200-day moving average of $84.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results 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. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.54.

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.