First Trust Advisors LP Buys 48,926 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 851,826 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 48,926 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.13% of Sempra worth $74,722,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Sempra by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,018,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,527,944,000 after acquiring an additional 490,269 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,082,261 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,797,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511,313 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,535,000,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Sempra by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,072,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,143,248,000 after purchasing an additional 311,094 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim cut 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. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. 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 note on Tuesday, April 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.31.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $70.40 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.89 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.35. Sempra has a one year low of $61.90 and a one 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.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sempra's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $343,114.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,408,786.94. This trade represents a 19.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 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.

Sempra 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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