Covea Finance Sells 34,190 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Covea Finance cut its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 324,945 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 34,190 shares during the period. Sempra accounts for approximately 1.3% of Covea Finance's portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Covea Finance owned approximately 0.05% of Sempra worth $28,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its position in Sempra by 250.0% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Sempra in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in Sempra by 225.6% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC lifted 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 valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $91.60.

Sempra Stock Up 5.7 %

SRE stock traded up $4.44 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $82.55. The stock had a trading volume of 10,263,068 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,842,884. The business has a 50-day moving average of $88.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.73. 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 firm has a market cap of $52.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.18, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is 54.63%.

About Sempra

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.