Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Corebridge Financial Inc.

Corebridge Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 145,575 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,914 shares during the quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $12,770,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 6.8% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 31,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,649,000 after buying an additional 2,010 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter valued at $81,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its stake in Sempra by 55.7% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 7,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $592,000 after acquiring an additional 2,530 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 117,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,808,000 after acquiring an additional 9,342 shares during the period. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its position in Sempra by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 9,520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $796,000 after acquiring an additional 1,624 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $69.30 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a 52-week low of $64.89 and a 52-week high of $95.77. 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 50 day moving average price of $78.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.40.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 58.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Pablo Ferrero acquired 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,110,453.04. The trade was a 19.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James C. Yardley bought 5,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $69.74 per share, for a total transaction of $350,025.06. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $350,025.06. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 in the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 price objective (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.58.

Sempra Company 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.