BROOKFIELD Corp ON Sells 97,795 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

BROOKFIELD Corp ON lessened its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,578,711 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 97,795 shares during the quarter. Sempra makes up 0.8% of BROOKFIELD Corp ON's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. BROOKFIELD Corp ON owned 0.25% of Sempra worth $138,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,018,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,527,944,000 after buying an additional 490,269 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Sempra by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,369,076,000 after purchasing an additional 4,082,261 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Sempra by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,797,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511,313 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $1,535,000,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,072,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,143,248,000 after purchasing an additional 311,094 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Sempra Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE SRE traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $75.40. 3,066,378 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,741,813. Sempra has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $49.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.61.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is 58.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SRE. Argus downgraded shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. 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 report on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.54.

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.