Coldstream Capital Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 20.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,455 shares during the quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Argus downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 target price on Sempra and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays cut Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their target price on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.54.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero bought 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,453.04. This trade represents a 19.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders bought 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE opened at $75.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $71.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.09. Sempra has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.66, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a $0.645 dividend. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Sempra 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.