69,647 Shares in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Purchased by GF Fund Management CO. LTD.

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 69,647 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,109,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Sempra by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in Sempra by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 8,194 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $719,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Sempra by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,585 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV raised its stake in Sempra by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 6,195 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Sempra by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,639 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, Director James C. Yardley acquired 5,019 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $69.74 per share, for a total transaction of $350,025.06. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 5,019 shares in the company, valued at $350,025.06. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael N. Mears purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $67.70 per share, with a total value of $67,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $338,500. This represents a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 over the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of Sempra stock traded down $1.44 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $77.47. The stock had a trading volume of 3,124,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,747,914. The stock's 50 day moving average is $72.61 and its 200 day moving average is $79.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.50 billion, a PE ratio of 17.06, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63. Sempra has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.12. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SRE. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.62.

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.