Groupama Asset Managment Lowers Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Groupama Asset Managment lessened its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 34.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 429,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 221,677 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in Sempra were worth $37,481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Sempra by 633.4% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,624,000 after buying an additional 25,838 shares in the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in Sempra in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Sempra by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $286,695,000 after acquiring an additional 278,183 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in Sempra during the third quarter worth $675,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,071,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,956,000 after purchasing an additional 26,821 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of SRE opened at $71.38 on Tuesday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $76.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.07. The company has a market capitalization of $46.50 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, Director Pablo Ferrero purchased 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $70.96 per share, for a total transaction of $184,496.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,453.04. This trade represents a 19.92 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 over the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on SRE shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 target price (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays lowered Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.33.

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.