BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Boosts Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 170.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,220 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 13,379 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Sempra were worth $1,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,407,666 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $201,352,000 after acquiring an additional 45,884 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth $246,000. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth $6,029,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth $380,000. Finally, Blankinship & Foster LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth $1,338,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of Sempra stock traded up $0.23 on Friday, reaching $74.75. The stock had a trading volume of 4,122,952 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,721,994. Sempra has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The company has a market cap of $48.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The business's 50 day moving average is $71.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.13.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Sempra's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $0.645 dividend. This is an increase from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.37%.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Argus lowered shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group lowered shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 price target on shares of Sempra and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.54.

Sempra Company Profile

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.