Xponance Inc. Has $9.27 Million Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 105,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,047 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $9,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,587,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,653 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 4.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,774,974,000 after buying an additional 1,539,026 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $123,614,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 201.2% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,882,000 after buying an additional 414,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the third quarter worth approximately $33,023,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $70.74 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $79.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.84. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $64.89 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 58.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho cut their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Argus cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. The trade was a 8.69 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 over the last three months. 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.