CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Buys 33,060 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 4.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 819,065 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 33,060 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Sempra were worth $58,872,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 195.1% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 419 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Rational Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the 1st quarter worth approximately $43,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE SRE traded up $1.39 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $79.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,818,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,988,395. Sempra has a 1 year low of $63.75 and a 1 year high of $79.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $49.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.52, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $76.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.22.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.01). Sempra had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 8.95%. The company had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 44.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders 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 3.13%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 27th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.93%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $457,927.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at $1,107,357.57. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Sempra news, Director Richard J. Mark acquired 1,925 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $77.97 per share, for a total transaction of $150,092.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $422,597.40. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of Sempra 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 completion of 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. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Sempra from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. 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 report on Wednesday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.10.

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.