Ethic Inc. Has $14.02 Million Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Ethic Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 108.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 159,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 83,028 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $14,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in Sempra by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,407,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,352,000 after purchasing an additional 45,884 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Sempra by 8.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $286,695,000 after acquiring an additional 278,183 shares during the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 144,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,062,000 after purchasing an additional 2,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 225.6% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SRE. UBS Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 price target on Sempra and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total value of $343,114.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,408,786.94. This trade represents a 19.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $225,717.15. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $75.94 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $70.81 and a 200 day moving average of $80.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.73, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.12. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

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.