Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,923,127 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 93,131 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.30% of Sempra worth $168,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Sempra by 633.4% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,624,000 after buying an additional 25,838 shares during the period. L & S Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Sempra by 52.6% in the fourth quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 41,601 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,649,000 after acquiring an additional 14,338 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Sempra by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $286,695,000 after purchasing an additional 278,183 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Sempra by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,071,091 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $93,956,000 after purchasing an additional 26,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 9,479 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $831,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE traded up $0.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $74.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,122,952 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,721,994. Sempra has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The firm has a market cap of $48.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $71.33 and a 200-day moving average of $81.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Research 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. This is a positive change from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 target price on shares of Sempra and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim lowered 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. Mizuho reduced their price target 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. Citigroup reduced their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.54.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total value of $343,114.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,408,786.94. This trade represents a 19.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at $618,823.35. This trade represents a 8.69 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.