Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 849,362 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,276 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.13% of Sempra worth $71,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Sempra during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 250.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Sempra during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America started coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.00.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Sempra stock opened at $94.28 on Thursday. Sempra has a 12-month low of $66.40 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $59.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.75. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.07.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

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

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.