Sterling Capital Management LLC Purchases 26,635 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 938.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,474 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 26,635 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Sempra were worth $2,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 1.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,407,666 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $201,352,000 after purchasing an additional 45,884 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Sempra in the third quarter valued at $246,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra in the 3rd quarter valued at $6,029,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth about $380,000. Finally, Blankinship & Foster LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,338,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, Director Michael N. Mears acquired 1,000 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $67.70 per share, for a total transaction of $67,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $338,500. This represents a 25.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders bought 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Sempra stock traded up $0.75 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $71.14. 3,595,052 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,686,324. 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 twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The company has a market cap of $46.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $72.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.54.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is 58.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup decreased their price target on Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.31.

Sempra Company 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.