Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Bought by Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,324,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,870,591,000 after acquiring an additional 128,847 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,774,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,539,026 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,587,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,653 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,761,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,063,007,000 after acquiring an additional 145,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,695,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $639,921,000 after acquiring an additional 129,891 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.20.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was 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 directly owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $82.67 on Tuesday. Sempra has a 12 month low of $66.40 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The company has a market cap of $52.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.78. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.41.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.63%.

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.