Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Position Reduced by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 13.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,127,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 328,250 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.34% of Sempra worth $152,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 101.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,117,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,225,884,000 after purchasing an additional 31,334,782 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,123,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,026,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,917,668 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth $958,253,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 12,344,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $922,539,000 after acquiring an additional 190,688 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 101.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,334,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $703,034,000 after acquiring an additional 5,197,328 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH dropped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.10.

Sempra Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of SRE traded down $0.95 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $75.18. The stock had a trading volume of 2,347,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,013,487. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $63.75 and a fifty-two week high of $78.83. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.02. The firm has a market cap of $47.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.95% and a net margin of 20.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 44.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.8 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 27th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 27th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.99%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, Director Richard J. Mark purchased 1,925 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $77.97 per share, with a total value of $150,092.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $422,597.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Sempra news, Director Richard J. Mark acquired 1,925 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $77.97 per share, with a total value of $150,092.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,420 shares in the company, valued at $422,597.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.