Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Has $13.11 Million Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 133.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 149,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 85,500 shares during the quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co's holdings in Sempra were worth $13,114,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Sempra by 633.4% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,624,000 after purchasing an additional 25,838 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the third quarter valued at $33,023,000. L & S Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 52.6% during the 4th quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 41,601 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,649,000 after acquiring an additional 14,338 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $286,695,000 after acquiring an additional 278,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth $675,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE SRE traded down $0.50 on Thursday, reaching $67.56. The stock had a trading volume of 2,449,223 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,660,738. Sempra has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $74.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $44.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65.

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Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. This is a boost from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra's payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays downgraded Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $77.00 price objective (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.46.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $343,114.91. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,778 shares in the company, valued at $1,408,786.94. This represents a 19.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.