Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Acquired by O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 36.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 91,691 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 24,629 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC's holdings in Sempra were worth $8,043,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in shares of Sempra by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,290 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Sempra in the third quarter valued at $2,707,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra in the third quarter valued at $247,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in Sempra by 520.1% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 24,227 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,026,000 after buying an additional 20,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth about $433,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

SRE stock traded down $4.84 during trading on Friday, hitting $65.89. The company had a trading volume of 6,643,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,622,739. Sempra has a 1-year low of $64.89 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $75.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $42.96 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. This is an increase 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 3.92%. Sempra's payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at $618,823.35. The trade was a 8.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on SRE. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays downgraded shares of Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Argus downgraded shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.33.

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.