Norges Bank Acquires New Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 17,498,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,535,000,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 9.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,587,181,000 after buying an additional 1,582,653 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Sempra by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,774,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth $123,614,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at $43,956,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Sempra by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,018,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,527,944,000 after purchasing an additional 490,269 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 price objective (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group cut shares of 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. Finally, Argus cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.33.

Sempra Stock Performance

Sempra stock opened at $70.76 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $77.82 and its 200 day moving average is $83.31. Sempra has a 1-year low of $64.89 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 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 the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Pablo Ferrero purchased 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $70.96 per share, for a total transaction of $184,496.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,110,453.04. This trade represents a 19.92 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.