Generali Investments Management Co LLC Invests $1.67 Million in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Generali Investments Management Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 18,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,666,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Sempra by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Sempra by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 7,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI grew its position in shares of Sempra by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 6,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $586,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra by 0.3% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,890,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $70.74 on Wednesday. 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. The company has a market capitalization of $46.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.58, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $79.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.84.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. Sempra’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays downgraded shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sempra currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

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.