Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Purchased by Mizuho Securities USA LLC

Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 46.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 60,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,976 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $5,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Sempra by 633.4% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,624,000 after purchasing an additional 25,838 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA bought a new stake in Sempra in the third quarter valued at $33,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Sempra by 8.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $286,695,000 after buying an additional 278,183 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in Sempra in the third quarter valued at $675,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Sempra by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,071,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,956,000 after buying an additional 26,821 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. Guggenheim cut their target price on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Argus cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael N. Mears purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $67.70 per share, for a total transaction of $67,700.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $338,500. This represents a 25.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $69.56 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $78.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.58. Sempra has a 52 week low of $64.89 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $45.31 billion, a PE ratio of 15.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. 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 previous year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. Sempra’s payout ratio is 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.