Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $17.21 Million Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 205,775 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,891 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Sempra were worth $17,209,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,963 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in Sempra by 1.6% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $731,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 4.0% in the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,794 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich raised its position in shares of Sempra by 1.2% during the second quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 12,558 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Conning Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,184 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on SRE. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.91.

Sempra Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SRE traded down $1.14 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $87.41. 3,987,251 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,927,613. The stock has a market cap of $55.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.77. 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 fifty-two week low of $66.40 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $87.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.98.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.63%.

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.