Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 302,805 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 46.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 352,933 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 302,805 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.06% of Sempra worth $30,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Sempra by 265.2% in the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 225.6% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $69.30 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a twelve month low of $64.89 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.40. 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 (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 58.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, Director Michael N. Mears acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $67.70 per share, with a total value of $67,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $338,500. The trade was a 25.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lowered Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Mizuho dropped their target price 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 price target (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.58.

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.