Geode Capital Management LLC Has $1.14 Billion Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,072,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 311,094 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.06% of Sempra worth $1,143,248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 265.2% in the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,778 shares in the company, valued at $1,408,786.94. This trade represents a 19.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero acquired 2,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,110,453.04. The trade was a 19.92 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Argus lowered shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, February 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.33.

Sempra Stock Performance

SRE stock traded down $4.84 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $65.89. 6,643,959 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,622,739. Sempra has a twelve month low of $64.89 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.71.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. Sempra's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is an increase from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

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.