Point72 Asset Management L.P. Lowers Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. reduced its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 71.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 512,916 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 1,313,952 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. owned about 0.08% of Sempra worth $42,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,963 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in Sempra by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $731,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Sempra by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,794 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich raised its position in Sempra by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 12,558 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $955,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. raised its position in Sempra by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,184 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the company'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 sale, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.91.

Sempra Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Sempra stock traded down $0.56 on Thursday, reaching $90.94. 3,910,534 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,923,493. Sempra has a 1-year low of $66.40 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The company has a market cap of $57.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.77. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $87.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.66.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.