Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Holdings Lowered by Capital International Investors

Capital International Investors lowered its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,767,942 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 103,506 shares during the quarter. Sempra accounts for about 0.8% of Capital International Investors' portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Capital International Investors owned about 7.86% of Sempra worth $4,365,476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital International Sarl lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 48.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 176,282 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $15,463,000 after buying an additional 57,315 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in shares of Sempra by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 882,472 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $77,362,000 after purchasing an additional 75,073 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 122.4% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 732,900 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $64,290,000 after buying an additional 403,408 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth about $106,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 21,695 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,903,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on SRE. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Argus downgraded shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays lowered Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. 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 $0.48 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $72.79. 996,929 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,691,263. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $47.45 billion, a PE ratio of 16.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. Sempra has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $71.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.29.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The business 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 last year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.37%.

Sempra 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.