Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Bought by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,290 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $7,762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SRE. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra by 6.9% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,452,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,023,228,000 after buying an additional 874,133 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,335,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $362,564,000 after acquiring an additional 125,833 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Sempra by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,625,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $303,198,000 after purchasing an additional 48,512 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in Sempra by 2.1% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 2,404,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $182,158,000 after purchasing an additional 48,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Sempra by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,878,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $157,091,000 after purchasing an additional 6,700 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE opened at $94.75 on Tuesday. Sempra has a 1 year low of $66.40 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.01 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.00.

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.