Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Invests $16.67 Million in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 190,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $16,674,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 265.2% in the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Argus cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays lowered Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $65.89 on Friday. Sempra has a 52 week low of $64.89 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.93 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $75.87 and its 200-day moving average is $82.71.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s payout ratio is 58.37%.

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.