Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Bought by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,463,474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,507 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $128,376,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its position in Sempra by 250.0% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra by 225.6% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in Sempra by 180.4% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $81.94 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $85.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.44. The company has a market capitalization of $51.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a 1 year low of $66.40 and a 1 year 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.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.20.

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.