Capital Research Global Investors Buys 26,656 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 997,194 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 26,656 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors owned about 0.16% of Sempra worth $87,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Sempra by 1.9% during 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 period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at about $246,000. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,029,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Sempra during the third quarter worth about $380,000. Finally, Blankinship & Foster LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra in the third quarter worth about $1,338,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total value of $343,114.91. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,408,786.94. This represents a 19.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 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 corporate insiders.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE traded up $1.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $73.35. 4,060,515 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,706,657. The stock has a market cap of $47.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The business's fifty day moving average is $71.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.23. Sempra has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.77. 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 (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. 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 firm earned $1.13 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. This is a positive change from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.