Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,740,845 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 115,372 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.59% of Sempra worth $328,147,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SRE. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Sempra by 0.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,324,893 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,870,591,000 after purchasing an additional 128,847 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,774,974,000 after buying an additional 1,539,026 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 9.1% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,761,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,063,007,000 after buying an additional 145,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,695,988 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $639,921,000 after acquiring an additional 129,891 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages have issued reports on SRE. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays downgraded Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.50.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Sempra
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Sempra Trading Down 0.6 %
SRE stock traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $69.23. The company had a trading volume of 5,948,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,561,125. The company has a market capitalization of $45.10 billion, a PE ratio of 15.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $81.42 and a 200 day moving average of $84.42. Sempra has a 12 month low of $64.89 and a 12 month high of $95.77. 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 data 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. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. Sempra's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Sempra Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. This is an increase from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra's payout ratio is presently 58.37%.
Sempra 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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