M&T Bank Corp Sells 1,095 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

M&T Bank Corp lowered its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,924 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,095 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Sempra were worth $2,685,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in Sempra by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Monetary Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Sempra by 100.0% in the third quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra by 100.0% in the third quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in Sempra by 85.6% in the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $75.23 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Sempra has a 12 month low of $63.75 and a 12 month high of $78.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 44.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 51.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on SRE. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com lowered Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays raised their target price on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total value of $360,586.86. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,403,888.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Sempra news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total transaction of $360,586.86. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,712 shares in the company, valued at $1,403,888.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total value of $4,063,936.89. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 122,432 shares of company stock valued at $8,668,035 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.