Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 137,930 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,989,939 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 137,930 shares during the quarter. Sempra comprises 1.0% of Clearbridge Investments LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 2.21% of Sempra worth $1,227,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Sempra by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,018,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,527,944,000 after purchasing an additional 490,269 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Sempra by 0.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,324,893 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,870,591,000 after acquiring an additional 128,847 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Sempra by 4.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,774,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,539,026 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,535,000,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Sempra by 1.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 145,873 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus lowered Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group cut Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.33.

Sempra Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:SRE traded up $1.37 on Wednesday, hitting $72.93. The company had a trading volume of 4,726,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,593,269. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $76.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. 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 has a 1 year low of $64.89 and a 1 year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) 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 business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. This is a positive change from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero acquired 2,600 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,453.04. This represents a 19.92 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 in the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.