Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 1,228 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 83,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,228 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $6,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Sempra by 101.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,117,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,225,884,000 after acquiring an additional 31,334,782 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Sempra by 101.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,206,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,646,750,000 after acquiring an additional 12,184,568 shares during the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC increased its stake in Sempra by 104.0% in the third quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 14,416,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $980,756,000 after purchasing an additional 7,348,746 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 147.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,360,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $976,926,000 after purchasing an additional 8,546,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 109.0% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 12,154,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $826,855,000 after buying an additional 6,338,545 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.50 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com cut Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Sempra Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of SRE stock opened at $70.09 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.31 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.71. Sempra has a 1-year low of $63.75 and a 1-year high of $79.43. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $70.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.77%.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 5,158 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $367,301.18. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 43,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,063,739.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total value of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at $770,983.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 156,622 shares of company stock worth $11,089,713 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.