18,600 Shares in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Acquired by Enhancing Capital LLC

Enhancing Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 18,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,632,000. Sempra makes up 1.3% of Enhancing Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Sempra by 0.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,324,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,870,591,000 after purchasing an additional 128,847 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Sempra by 4.9% in the third 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. FMR LLC raised its position in Sempra by 9.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,587,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,653 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Sempra by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,761,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,063,007,000 after purchasing an additional 145,873 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Sempra by 1.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,695,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $639,921,000 after purchasing an additional 129,891 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Trading Up 1.2 %

SRE opened at $71.03 on Tuesday. Sempra has a 12 month low of $64.89 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.65, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $79.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.92.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on SRE. Guggenheim reduced their target price on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays cut Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

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.