The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Cuts Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 849,362 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 6,276 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.13% of Sempra worth $71,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Sempra by 36.2% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 13,766 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $945,000 after acquiring an additional 3,658 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 30.4% in the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,984 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 5,434 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Sempra during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,338,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc increased its position in Sempra by 12.0% during the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 39,800 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,859,000 after buying an additional 4,258 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:SRE opened at $94.28 on Thursday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $86.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.07. Sempra has a 52-week low of $66.40 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $59.72 billion, a PE ratio of 20.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.75.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. This trade 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. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SRE. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.00.

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.