Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,681,533 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 14,455 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 1.21% of Sempra worth $673,824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in Sempra by 6.0% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,290 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $442,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth $2,707,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth $247,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in Sempra by 520.1% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 24,227 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,026,000 after purchasing an additional 20,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cinctive Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Sempra during the third quarter valued at about $15,915,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Performance

Sempra stock traded down $2.07 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $70.77. 6,681,119 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,609,469. Sempra has a 1 year low of $64.89 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. 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's 50 day moving average price is $76.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.92.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. This is a positive change from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. The trade was a 8.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and set a $77.00 target price (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group lowered shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $81.33.

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.