Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Stake Raised by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 222,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,612 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $19,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in Sempra by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 60,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,266,000 after buying an additional 18,976 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 169.9% in the fourth quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. now owns 25,570 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,243,000 after acquiring an additional 16,095 shares during the last quarter. Kiker Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth $259,000. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its position in Sempra by 623.3% during the fourth quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 17,359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,522,000 after purchasing an additional 14,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at $280,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have bought 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays downgraded Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Guggenheim dropped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.33.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $70.15 on Friday. Sempra has a 12 month low of $64.89 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The company has a market cap of $45.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s 50 day moving average is $77.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. Sempra’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.