Geode Capital Management LLC Raises Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,072,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 311,094 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.06% of Sempra worth $1,143,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 265.2% in the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero acquired 2,600 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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 research note on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Argus downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.33.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $71.57 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $76.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.99. Sempra has a 52-week low of $64.89 and a 52-week high of $95.77. 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 (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.