Mariner LLC Acquires 19,073 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Mariner LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 21.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 106,087 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 19,073 shares during the period. Mariner LLC's holdings in Sempra were worth $9,306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Argus lowered Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.31.

Sempra Stock Up 1.5 %

SRE traded up $1.07 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.38. The company had a trading volume of 2,677,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,424,334. The company has a market capitalization of $47.84 billion, a PE ratio of 16.16, a PEG 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. Sempra has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.77. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $71.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.29.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company'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 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. 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 3.52%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael N. Mears bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $67.70 per share, with a total value of $67,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $338,500. The trade was a 25.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James C. Yardley purchased 5,019 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $69.74 per share, with a total value of $350,025.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,019 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $350,025.06. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.