Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98,293 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 5,482 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s holdings in Sempra were worth $8,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Sempra by 633.4% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,624,000 after acquiring an additional 25,838 shares in the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Sempra by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $286,695,000 after buying an additional 278,183 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Sempra by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 357,107 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,865,000 after buying an additional 6,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $675,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $68.70 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $80.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.27. The company has a market capitalization of $44.75 billion, a PE ratio of 15.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a 1 year low of $64.89 and a 1 year 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.

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Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 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 analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect 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 will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is an increase from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lowered Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $77.00 target price (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.50.

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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