Natixis Advisors LLC Acquires 79,987 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 674,670 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 79,987 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.11% of Sempra worth $59,182,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,585 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 7,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 6,677 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $586,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,518 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,890,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho lowered their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Argus cut shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays cut Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Five 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 $81.58.

Sempra Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of SRE traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $70.10. 6,075,156 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,599,562. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.75. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $45.67 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a 52 week low of $64.89 and a 52 week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a positive change 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 dividend yield of 3.68%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sempra Company 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.