Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. Has $49.59 Million Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 565,296 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 8,193 shares during the quarter. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. owned about 0.09% of Sempra worth $49,588,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC increased its stake in Sempra by 265.2% during the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on SRE. Argus cut Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.31.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.18. 1,133,420 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,691,667. Sempra has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $47.71 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a positive change from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company 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.