American International Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

American International Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 225,804 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,071 shares during the period. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $16,874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Sempra by 101.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,117,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,225,884,000 after purchasing an additional 31,334,782 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Sempra by 101.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,206,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,646,750,000 after buying an additional 12,184,568 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Sempra by 147.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,360,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $976,926,000 after buying an additional 8,546,205 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $958,253,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted 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 valued at $922,539,000 after acquiring an additional 190,688 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Richard J. Mark purchased 1,925 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 5,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $422,597.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $75.97. The stock had a trading volume of 2,666,810 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,763,922. Sempra has a 52-week low of $63.75 and a 52-week high of $78.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.83. The company has a market cap of $47.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 27th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 27th. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.93%.

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.