Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 14,455 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,681,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,455 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 1.21% of Sempra worth $673,824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,018,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,527,944,000 after acquiring an additional 490,269 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,082,261 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,774,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,026 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,535,000,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Sempra by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,761,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,063,007,000 after buying an additional 145,873 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on SRE. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Argus lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. 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 research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 price objective (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.33.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero acquired 2,600 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares in the company, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $71.38 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.50 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $76.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.07. Sempra has a twelve month low of $64.89 and a twelve month high of $95.77.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business 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. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

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.