Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Toronto Dominion Bank

Toronto Dominion Bank lowered its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 19.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 226,474 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 53,470 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank's holdings in Sempra were worth $19,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Sempra by 0.8% in the 4th 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 period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Sempra by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,369,076,000 after buying an additional 4,082,261 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Sempra by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,797,376,000 after buying an additional 1,511,313 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth about $1,535,000,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Sempra by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,072,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,143,248,000 after buying an additional 311,094 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.75.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, Director Pablo Ferrero purchased 2,600 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,110,453.04. This trade represents a 19.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner purchased 700 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE SRE traded up $0.52 on Friday, hitting $78.47. The company had a trading volume of 8,580,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,763,886. The company has a market capitalization of $51.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63. The company's fifty day moving average price is $73.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Sempra has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77.

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

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 26th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.70%.

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.