Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Bought by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd grew its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 22.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 53,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,746 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Sempra were worth $4,688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in Sempra by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Sempra by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Sempra by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 7,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI grew its holdings in Sempra by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 6,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $586,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Sempra by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,210 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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 note on Monday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.33.

Sempra Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE SRE opened at $69.65 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $77.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.15. Sempra has a one year low of $64.89 and a one year high of $95.77. 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 firm has a market cap of $45.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.37%.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner purchased 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.