Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Has $5.36 Million Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,656 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Sempra were worth $5,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 101.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,117,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,225,884,000 after purchasing an additional 31,334,782 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Sempra by 101.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,206,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,646,750,000 after acquiring an additional 12,184,568 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Sempra by 147.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,360,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $976,926,000 after acquiring an additional 8,546,205 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 104.0% during the 3rd quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 14,416,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $980,756,000 after acquiring an additional 7,348,746 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 109.0% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 12,154,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $826,855,000 after acquiring an additional 6,338,545 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. 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 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total value of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,105.45. 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 Up 1.5 %

NYSE:SRE opened at $71.13 on Tuesday. 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 current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $44.96 billion, a PE ratio of 14.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.63.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a $0.62 dividend. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.77%.

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.