Generali Investments Management Co LLC Takes $1.67 Million Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Generali Investments Management Co LLC bought a new stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 18,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,666,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,324,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,870,591,000 after purchasing an additional 128,847 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,774,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 9.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,587,181,000 after buying an additional 1,582,653 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,761,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,063,007,000 after buying an additional 145,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Sempra by 1.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,695,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $639,921,000 after buying an additional 129,891 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on SRE. UBS Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays downgraded Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Argus downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $618,823.35. This trade represents a 8.69 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of SRE stock opened at $70.74 on Wednesday. Sempra has a 12 month low of $64.89 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $79.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.84. The company has a market cap of $46.09 billion, a PE ratio of 15.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. 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 is currently 58.37%.

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.