Waddell & Associates LLC Takes $385,000 Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Waddell & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,384 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $385,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 633.4% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,624,000 after acquiring an additional 25,838 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,023,000. L & S Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 52.6% in the fourth quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 41,601 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,649,000 after acquiring an additional 14,338 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 8.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $286,695,000 after buying an additional 278,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra during the third quarter worth about $675,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. The trade was a 8.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays cut Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Six equities research 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, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.46.

Sempra Price Performance

Sempra stock traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $69.40. 987,052 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,674,560. Sempra has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $45.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.29, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $73.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during 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%. Sempra'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 posted $1.13 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra's payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

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.