APG Asset Management N.V. Acquires Shares of 344,700 Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

APG Asset Management N.V. bought a new position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 344,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $29,200,000. APG Asset Management N.V. owned about 0.05% of Sempra as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 265.2% in the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group downgraded 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. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.33.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE stock opened at $63.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $74.78 and a 200-day moving average of $82.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. Sempra has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm’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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero acquired 2,600 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.96 per share, for a total transaction of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra 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.