Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Trims Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 92.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,714 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 185,503 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Monetary Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 390 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 85.6% during the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 412 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Sempra from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Richard J. Mark acquired 1,925 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $77.97 per share, with a total value of $150,092.25. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $422,597.40. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $141.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Richard J. Mark bought 1,925 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $77.97 per share, with a total value of $150,092.25. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,420 shares in the company, valued at $422,597.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 122,432 shares of company stock worth $8,668,035. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sempra Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of SRE stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $78.42. 3,152,586 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,035,939. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.62. Sempra has a one year low of $63.75 and a one year high of $78.83. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $71.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.70.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. The business's revenue was down 44.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 27th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is presently 54.93%.

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.

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