DnB Asset Management AS Buys 7,395 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

DnB Asset Management AS lifted its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 337,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,395 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Sempra were worth $29,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth $1,535,000,000. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in Sempra by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 35,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,111,000 after buying an additional 903 shares in the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 36,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,221,000 after purchasing an additional 8,708 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 48,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,275,000 after purchasing an additional 9,117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Sempra by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,143,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $100,280,000 after buying an additional 90,941 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on SRE shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased 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. Jefferies Financial Group restated 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.33.

Sempra Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE SRE opened at $69.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $45.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $77.23 and a 200-day moving average of $83.13.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders 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 is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

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.