Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 205,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 231 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $18,030,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,535,000,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Sempra by 4.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,774,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,539,026 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $123,614,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth $43,956,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,018,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,527,944,000 after purchasing an additional 490,269 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated 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. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Argus lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.33.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $69.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.34, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $64.89 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. 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 (DPR) is currently 58.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, Director Cynthia J. Warner purchased 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $618,823.35. The trade was a 8.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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 on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was 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 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 quarter, insiders bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.