Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Purchased by Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Sempra by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,324,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,870,591,000 after purchasing an additional 128,847 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,774,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 9.1% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,761,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,063,007,000 after acquiring an additional 145,873 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,695,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $639,921,000 after acquiring an additional 129,891 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michael N. Mears purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $67.70 per share, for a total transaction of $67,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $338,500. The trade was a 25.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho reduced their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 target price (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.50.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $68.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $44.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13, a PEG 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. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $80.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.27. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid 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 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.