Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 18.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,872,649 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 1,355,904 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.93% of Sempra worth $515,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its position in Sempra by 265.2% during the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE traded up $1.46 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $68.36. 4,169,530 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,684,997. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $73.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $44.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.06, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

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Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. 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 58.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SRE shares. Argus cut shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group lowered shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lowered Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $77.00 price target (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.46.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, Director Cynthia J. Warner purchased 700 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were acquired 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 in the company, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael N. Mears acquired 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $67.70 per share, with a total value of $67,700.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $338,500. This trade represents a 25.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.