Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Purchased by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 122.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 732,900 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 403,408 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.12% of Sempra worth $64,290,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,018,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,527,944,000 after purchasing an additional 490,269 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Sempra by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,369,076,000 after buying an additional 4,082,261 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,797,376,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511,313 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,535,000,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Sempra by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,072,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,143,248,000 after purchasing an additional 311,094 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company's stock, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE SRE traded up $1.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $73.35. 4,060,512 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,434,422. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.16, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average of $71.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for 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%. Sempra's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $0.645 dividend. 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 yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. Sempra's payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SRE. Argus cut Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price target on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.31.

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.