Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 13.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 674,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 79,987 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $59,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 28.3% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 113,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,980,000 after purchasing an additional 25,113 shares in the last quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Impact Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at $232,000. PGGM Investments purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at $156,000. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 38.2% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 3,539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 979 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 6,719 shares of company stock valued at $467,180 in the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of SRE stock opened at $70.30 on Friday. Sempra has a 1 year low of $64.89 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $45.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s fifty day moving average is $79.57 and its 200-day moving average is $83.98. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 target price (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Mizuho reduced their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays downgraded Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Guggenheim cut their price target on 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 cut their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.50.

About Sempra

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.