Amundi Purchases 333,447 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 23.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,736,337 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 333,447 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned approximately 0.27% of Sempra worth $143,803,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,871 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 4.8% during the third quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC now owns 10,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $857,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 6.4% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 47,986 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,013,000 after purchasing an additional 2,888 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 56.6% in the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,084,000 after purchasing an additional 9,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 2.4% in the third quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,149 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho cut their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays downgraded shares of Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.50.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE traded up $0.73 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $69.52. 1,703,337 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,584,112. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $80.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.27. The company has a market capitalization of $45.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a 52-week low of $64.89 and a 52-week 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.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business 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 is a boost from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.37%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

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.