Axa S.A. Has $33.89 Million Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Axa S.A. reduced its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 445,557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 37,464 shares during the period. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $33,889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,123,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,026,969,000 after acquiring an additional 2,917,668 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Sempra by 5,279.4% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,583,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $113,591,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554,374 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new position in Sempra in the first quarter valued at approximately $64,994,000. Zimmer Partners LP increased its position in shares of Sempra by 96.9% during the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,636,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $117,528,000 after purchasing an additional 805,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,630,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $81.91 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.19. The stock has a market cap of $51.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.16, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.75. Sempra has a 1-year low of $63.75 and a 1-year high of $84.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.03). Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Bank of America started coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.42.

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.