Commerce Bank Boosts Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Commerce Bank increased its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 60,794 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,412 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Sempra were worth $5,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Sempra by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,018,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,527,944,000 after purchasing an additional 490,269 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,369,076,000 after purchasing an additional 4,082,261 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,797,376,000 after buying an additional 1,511,313 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,535,000,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,072,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,143,248,000 after acquiring an additional 311,094 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sempra Trading Up 1.1 %

SRE stock opened at $71.14 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $72.42 and its 200 day moving average is $81.44. Sempra has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $46.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.67, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays lowered Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.31.

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.