Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Holdings Lifted by Tredje AP fonden

Tredje AP fonden grew its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 95.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 184,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 90,131 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Sempra were worth $16,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 5.4% in the 4th 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 period. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 5.1% in the 4th 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 period. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 2.0% in the 4th 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 period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 2.4% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 0.3% in the 3rd 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 period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SRE. UBS Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 target price (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim cut their target price 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.50.

Sempra Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $69.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $44.95 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a 52 week low of $64.89 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.16.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.