Amica Mutual Insurance Co. Has $5.55 Million Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Amica Mutual Insurance Co. cut its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,833 shares during the quarter. Amica Mutual Insurance Co.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $5,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Sempra by 98.2% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,287 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 99.6% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,104 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 1,549 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 59.4% in the 3rd quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 10,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,736 shares in the last quarter. Clarius Group LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 59.0% in the 3rd quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 4,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in Sempra by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total value of $3,595,856.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 122,432 shares of company stock valued at $8,668,035 in the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Stock Performance

SRE traded up $0.96 during trading on Monday, reaching $72.28. 2,427,912 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,953,792. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $70.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.75. The company has a market capitalization of $45.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.09, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.71. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $63.75 and a fifty-two week high of $79.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.02. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Sempra’s payout ratio is 51.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on SRE. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.50 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.14.

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.