Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,890,000 shares, a decline of 24.0% from the February 28th total of 9,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,280,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, Director Pablo Ferrero bought 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $70.96 per share, for a total transaction of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,453.04. This trade represents a 19.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Sempra by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,018,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,527,944,000 after acquiring an additional 490,269 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Sempra by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,369,076,000 after acquiring an additional 4,082,261 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Sempra by 4.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,774,974,000 after buying an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,797,376,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511,313 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth about $1,535,000,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Stock Up 0.3 %

SRE opened at $71.57 on Wednesday. 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 market cap of $46.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.76, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a one year low of $64.89 and a one year high of $95.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $76.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.99.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Argus lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 price objective (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, UBS Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.33.

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.