Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Acquired by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 124,542 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 7,293 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Sempra were worth $10,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter worth $1,535,000,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Sempra by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,369,076,000 after acquiring an additional 4,082,261 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,797,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511,313 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $123,614,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at $43,956,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group cut Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.31.

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Sempra Trading Up 1.3 %

SRE stock traded up $0.88 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $71.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 561,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,471,375. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.66, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. Sempra has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.71.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. Sempra's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra's payout ratio is 58.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, Director Michael N. Mears purchased 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $67.70 per share, for a total transaction of $67,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $338,500. This represents a 25.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 value of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.