Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 64.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,124 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 30,134 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich's holdings in Sempra were worth $6,746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Sempra by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,324,893 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,870,591,000 after purchasing an additional 128,847 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,539,026 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 9.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,587,181,000 after buying an additional 1,582,653 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Sempra by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,761,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,063,007,000 after buying an additional 145,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Sempra by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,695,988 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $639,921,000 after acquiring an additional 129,891 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.
Sempra Stock Up 0.3 %
Shares of SRE stock traded up $0.23 on Wednesday, reaching $69.02. 632,736 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,556,386. The company has a market cap of $44.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.18, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a one year low of $64.89 and a one year high of $95.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $80.68 and a 200-day moving average of $84.27. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Sempra's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.
Sempra Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. This is a boost from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra's payout ratio is presently 58.37%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, Director Michael N. Mears purchased 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $67.70 per share, with a total value of $67,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $338,500. The trade was a 25.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares in the company, valued at $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays downgraded shares of Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group lowered shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their target price on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.50.
Check Out Our Latest Report on SRE
Sempra Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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