First Hawaiian Bank Boosts Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

First Hawaiian Bank raised its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Sempra were worth $2,015,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at $958,253,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Sempra by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,123,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,026,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,917,668 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Sempra by 5,279.4% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,583,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $113,591,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554,374 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in Sempra during the first quarter valued at approximately $64,994,000. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 96.9% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,636,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $117,528,000 after buying an additional 805,084 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH dropped their target price on Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.10.

Sempra Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of SRE traded down $3.04 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $78.70. 4,774,771 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,981,570. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Sempra has a 1 year low of $63.75 and a 1 year high of $83.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.10, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $76.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.43.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 8.95%. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was down 44.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 27th were paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 27th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.