Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Purchased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,018,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 490,269 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.95% of Sempra worth $5,527,944,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 9.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,587,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,653 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,774,974,000 after buying an additional 1,539,026 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at about $123,614,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $43,956,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Sempra by 201.2% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,394 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $51,882,000 after acquiring an additional 414,406 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero purchased 2,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $70.96 per share, for a total transaction of $184,496.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,453.04. This trade represents a 19.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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Sempra Trading Down 0.9 %

SRE traded down $0.61 on Thursday, hitting $70.16. The company had a trading volume of 1,258,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,359,633. The company's fifty day moving average price is $77.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.31. The firm has a market cap of $45.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.46, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a 1 year low of $64.89 and a 1 year high of $95.77. 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 (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is 58.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on SRE shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $77.00 target price (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Argus lowered Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.33.

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.