BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Boosts Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 170.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,220 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,379 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Sempra were worth $1,861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Sempra by 1.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,407,666 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $201,352,000 after buying an additional 45,884 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $246,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,029,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $380,000. Finally, Blankinship & Foster LLC acquired a new position in Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,338,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SRE. Barclays lowered shares of Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, Director Michael N. Mears bought 1,000 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $67.70 per share, for a total transaction of $67,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $338,500. This represents a 25.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. The trade was 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 bought 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $70.40 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.89 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. Sempra has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $72.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.35.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. This is a boost from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. Sempra's payout ratio 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.

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