J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Acquires Shares of 15,350 Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG bought a new position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 15,350 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,347,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 490,269 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position 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 valued at $3,369,076,000 after acquiring an additional 4,082,261 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Sempra by 8.0% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $1,535,000,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Sempra by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,072,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,143,248,000 after purchasing an additional 311,094 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 owns 13,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael N. Mears bought 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $67.70 per share, for a total transaction of $67,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $338,500. The trade was a 25.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 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 owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of several research reports. Argus lowered shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays downgraded Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a 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 note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.31.

Sempra Stock Up 2.7 %

SRE stock opened at $72.34 on Wednesday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $71.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.29. The company has a market capitalization of $47.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. Sempra has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 firm 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a positive change from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. Sempra's payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

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.

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