Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Bought by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,072,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 311,094 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,143,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at $1,535,000,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Sempra by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,369,076,000 after buying an additional 4,082,261 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Sempra by 4.9% during 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 buying an additional 1,539,026 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $123,614,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,956,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 target price (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.33.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner purchased 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. The trade was a 8.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders bought 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sempra Stock Performance

SRE stock opened at $71.57 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a 12 month low of $64.89 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $76.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.99. The company has a market capitalization of $46.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $0.645 dividend. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.37%.

About Sempra

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.