Cohen & Steers Inc. Sells 7,968 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Cohen & Steers Inc. decreased its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 569,862 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 7,968 shares during the quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. owned 0.09% of Sempra worth $49,988,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,018,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,527,944,000 after acquiring an additional 490,269 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,369,076,000 after buying an additional 4,082,261 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Sempra by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,797,376,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511,313 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $1,535,000,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,072,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,143,248,000 after acquiring an additional 311,094 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group lowered Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup cut their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays lowered Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.31.

Sempra Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of SRE traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $71.14. 3,595,052 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,686,324. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $46.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. Sempra has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $72.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.54.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James C. Yardley purchased 5,019 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $69.74 per share, for a total transaction of $350,025.06. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,019 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $350,025.06. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael N. Mears purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $67.70 per share, for a total transaction of $67,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $338,500. This trade represents a 25.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. Insiders own 0.27% 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.