Candriam S.C.A. Purchases 983 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 92,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 983 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $8,088,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 250.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 225.6% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SRE shares. UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 price objective (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

Sempra Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $69.23 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $81.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.39. The stock has a market cap of $45.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $64.89 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 700 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate 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.