Wellington Management Group LLP Has $3.37 Billion Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 11.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,082,261 shares during the period. Sempra makes up about 0.6% of Wellington Management Group LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 5.90% of Sempra worth $3,369,076,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,535,000,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Sempra by 4.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at $123,614,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth $43,956,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,018,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,527,944,000 after buying an additional 490,269 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on SRE shares. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.33.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael N. Mears bought 1,000 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were acquired 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 approximately $338,500. The trade was a 25.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE stock traded down $4.84 during trading on Friday, reaching $65.89. 6,643,959 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,619,447. Sempra has a twelve month low of $64.89 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $42.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50-day moving average of $75.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.71.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders 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 represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. This is an increase from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

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.