Covea Finance reduced its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE – Free Report) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 324,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 34,190 shares during the period. Sempra comprises approximately 1.3% of Covea Finance’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Covea Finance’s holdings in Sempra were worth $28,504,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the third quarter worth $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its position in Sempra by 250.0% in the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Sempra by 225.6% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 180.4% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms have issued reports on SRE. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.60.
Sempra Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $78.12 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $49.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a 52-week low of $66.40 and a 52-week high of $95.77. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $88.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.73.
Sempra (NYSE:SRE – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Sempra Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.
Insider Activity at Sempra
In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently 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.
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