Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Director Pablo Ferrero Buys 2,600 Shares

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Director Pablo Ferrero bought 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $70.96 per share, for a total transaction of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $71.06 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $78.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.75. The stock has a market cap of $46.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.65, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Sempra has a one year low of $64.89 and a one year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business 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. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sempra

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,535,000,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,369,076,000 after buying an additional 4,082,261 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Sempra by 70.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,666,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $584,763,000 after buying an additional 2,758,037 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Sempra by 71.3% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,651,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $408,069,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in Sempra by 9.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,587,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,653 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 target price (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Argus cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim cut their price target on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.50.

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.