9,846 Shares in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Acquired by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,846 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $864,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its position in Sempra by 250.0% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in Sempra by 225.6% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of Sempra stock traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $69.23. 5,948,281 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,561,125. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $81.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a one year low of $64.89 and a one year high of $95.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

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Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders 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. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra's payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In related news, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 $618,823.35. The trade was a 8.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business'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 value of $4,125,186.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group lowered Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.50.

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.