APG Asset Management N.V. Buys Shares of 344,700 Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

APG Asset Management N.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 344,700 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $29,200,000. APG Asset Management N.V. owned about 0.05% of Sempra as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its position in Sempra by 265.2% during the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $77.00 price target (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays downgraded Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Argus downgraded Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.46.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, Director Pablo Ferrero bought 2,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,453.04. The trade was a 19.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of Sempra stock traded up $1.31 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $69.62. The stock had a trading volume of 810,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,531,621. The stock's 50 day moving average is $73.60 and its 200 day moving average is $81.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.39 billion, a PE ratio of 15.33, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is an increase from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. 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.