Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Bought by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 36.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,528 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Sempra were worth $950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Sempra by 57.4% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 662,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,101,000 after acquiring an additional 241,546 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Sempra by 16.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,368,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $161,109,000 after purchasing an additional 326,353 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in Sempra by 96.3% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 77,029 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,240,000 after acquiring an additional 37,779 shares during the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 149.3% during the third quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 13,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 8,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 114.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 47,356 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,222,000 after acquiring an additional 25,254 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Richard J. Mark purchased 1,925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $77.97 per share, with a total value of $150,092.25. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $422,597.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $457,927.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at $1,107,357.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reduced their price target on Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.10.

Sempra Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of SRE stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $75.62. The company had a trading volume of 230,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,985,522. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.62. Sempra has a twelve month low of $63.75 and a twelve month high of $78.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.03. The company has a market capitalization of $47.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.74.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.01). Sempra had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 8.95%. The business had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 44.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 27th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.93%.

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.