abrdn plc Increases Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

abrdn plc grew its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 69.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 269,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 110,562 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Sempra were worth $20,164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mechanics Bank Trust Department raised its position in shares of Sempra by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department now owns 10,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $761,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank grew its holdings in Sempra by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 18,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,391,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Clarius Group LLC raised its position in Sempra by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 4,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S. raised its position in Sempra by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 5,535 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in Sempra by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.50 price objective on the stock. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.14.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 34,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $2,421,677.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $141.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 156,622 shares of company stock valued at $11,089,713 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $71.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $45.22 billion, a PE ratio of 14.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.66. Sempra has a one year low of $63.75 and a one year high of $79.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.54.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. Sempra’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.77%.

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.