Generali Investments Management Co LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Generali Investments Management Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 80.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,322 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 15,332 shares during the quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC's holdings in Sempra were worth $2,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in Sempra by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 8,194 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Sempra by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,585 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV increased its stake in Sempra by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 6,195 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Sempra by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,639 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Argus downgraded shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Sempra and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.75.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, Director Michael N. Mears purchased 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $67.70 per share, for a total transaction of $67,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $338,500. The trade was a 25.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero purchased 2,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $70.96 per share, for a total transaction of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 15,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,110,453.04. This trade represents a 19.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 8,619 shares of company stock worth $602,221 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE traded up $0.87 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $76.82. 2,882,702 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,772,379. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50-day moving average of $73.73 and a 200 day moving average of $79.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.90 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. Sempra's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.70%.

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.