Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $3.28 Million Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 781.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,346 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,109 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Sempra were worth $3,276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 31,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,649,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Sempra during the third quarter valued at $81,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its holdings in Sempra by 55.7% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 7,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $592,000 after acquiring an additional 2,530 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 117,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,808,000 after acquiring an additional 9,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 9,520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $796,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 8,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This trade represents a 8.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero acquired 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $70.96 per share, for a total transaction of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,453.04. The trade was a 19.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE stock opened at $69.30 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.40. The company has a market capitalization of $45.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a 52-week low of $64.89 and a 52-week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced 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 business 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 earnings per share. Sempra’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. Sempra’s payout ratio is 58.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SRE shares. 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. Argus downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.58.

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.