Prudential Financial Inc. Has $30.96 Million Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 46.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 352,933 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 302,805 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $30,959,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 9.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,587,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,653 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Sempra by 4.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,774,974,000 after buying an additional 1,539,026 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at $123,614,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,956,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Sempra by 0.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $69.30 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.40. Sempra has a 1-year low of $64.89 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The firm has a market cap 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 (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share 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 earned $1.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. 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%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael N. Mears purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $67.70 per share, for a total transaction of $67,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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 ninety days, insiders acquired 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 price target (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays downgraded shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.