Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Stake Boosted by UniSuper Management Pty Ltd

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 23.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,117 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Sempra were worth $4,275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its stake in Sempra by 265.2% during the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 225.6% in 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 period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SRE. Mizuho cut their price objective on 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 reduced their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 target price (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.33.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $69.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $77.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.13. The firm has a market capitalization 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 12-month low of $64.89 and a 12-month high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The business 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other Sempra news, Director Cynthia J. Warner purchased 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero acquired 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,110,453.04. This represents a 19.92 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.