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

Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 46.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,976 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $5,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 169.9% during the 4th quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. now owns 25,570 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 16,095 shares during the last quarter. Kiker Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth about $259,000. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 623.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 17,359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,522,000 after acquiring an additional 14,959 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth about $280,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 781.4% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 37,346 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,276,000 after acquiring an additional 33,109 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero purchased 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,453.04. This represents a 19.92 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $69.56 on Friday. 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 has a 52-week low of $64.89 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The company has a 50 day moving average of $78.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.58. The company has a market capitalization of $45.31 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SRE. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. 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 report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Argus lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 price target (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.58.

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.