Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Acquires New Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 100,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,817,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 265.2% during the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 225.6% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lowered shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.50.

Sempra Stock Up 1.2 %

SRE stock opened at $71.03 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $79.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.92. The stock has a market cap of $46.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65, 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 company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. Research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.