Mackenzie Financial Corp Sells 175,377 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Mackenzie Financial Corp reduced its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 36.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 302,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 175,377 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in Sempra were worth $22,981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Sempra by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,123,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,026,969,000 after acquiring an additional 2,917,668 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 12,578,779 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $903,534,000 after purchasing an additional 233,819 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 2,891,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $207,662,000 after purchasing an additional 133,119 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,629,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $196,466,000 after purchasing an additional 116,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 2.1% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 2,404,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $182,158,000 after buying an additional 48,592 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $83.25 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $80.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.34. Sempra has a one year low of $63.75 and a one year high of $84.38. The stock has a market cap of $52.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued 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 firm 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 company posted $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America started coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. 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 report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.