Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Purchases 173,906 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,509,245 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 173,906 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.71% of Sempra worth $395,551,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at about $515,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Sempra by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,072,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,143,248,000 after buying an additional 311,094 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Sempra by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 11,465 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $956,000 after purchasing an additional 669 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC acquired a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at about $348,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Sempra by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 828,756 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $72,698,000 after purchasing an additional 163,268 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of SRE stock traded down $2.39 during trading on Monday, hitting $63.49. 3,693,787 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,623,937. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $75.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.70. Sempra has a twelve month low of $62.26 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52.

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Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. Sempra's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.06%. This is an increase from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SRE shares. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho cut their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Argus lowered shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.33.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Michael N. Mears bought 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $67.70 per share, with a total value of $67,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $338,500. This represents a 25.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.