JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $285.67 Million Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,256,557 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 171,575 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.51% of Sempra worth $285,665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 265.2% during 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. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in Sempra by 225.6% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on SRE. Barclays lowered shares of Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. 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. UBS Group lowered Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $77.00 target price (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.33.

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Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE traded up $1.37 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $72.93. The company had a trading volume of 4,726,239 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,593,271. The company has a market cap of $47.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.06, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The business's 50-day moving average is $76.65 and its 200 day moving average is $82.99. Sempra has a 52 week low of $64.89 and a 52 week high of $95.77.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. Sempra's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. 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 3.54%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 8,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This trade represents a 8.69 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.