ProShare Advisors LLC Acquires 2,300 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 147,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $10,617,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at about $958,253,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Sempra by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,123,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,026,969,000 after acquiring an additional 2,917,668 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Sempra by 5,279.4% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,583,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $113,591,000 after acquiring an additional 1,554,374 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,455,445 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $183,495,000 after acquiring an additional 658,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Sempra by 117.2% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 952,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $68,382,000 after acquiring an additional 513,789 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered their target price on Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Mizuho increased their target price on Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Sempra from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.10.

Sempra Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of SRE stock opened at $77.72 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $76.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.14. The company has a market cap of $48.97 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.74. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $63.75 and a fifty-two week high of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.62.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 8.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 44.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 27th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 27th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.93%.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In related news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Richard J. Mark bought 1,925 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $77.97 per share, with a total value of $150,092.25. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,420 shares in the company, valued at $422,597.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $457,927.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,107,357.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.