Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Stock Position Raised by Mackenzie Financial Corp

Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 42.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 493,771 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 147,495 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned about 0.08% of Sempra worth $43,314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra by 633.4% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,624,000 after acquiring an additional 25,838 shares during the period. L & S Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 52.6% in the 4th quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 41,601 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,649,000 after purchasing an additional 14,338 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Sempra by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $286,695,000 after purchasing an additional 278,183 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,071,091 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $93,956,000 after purchasing an additional 26,821 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in Sempra by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 9,479 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $831,000 after buying an additional 990 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho cut their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.75.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, Director Michael N. Mears acquired 1,000 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $67.70 per share, for a total transaction of $67,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $338,500. This trade represents a 25.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was acquired 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 directly owns 8,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 over the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE traded up $0.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $78.13. The company had a trading volume of 1,490,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,737,744. The firm's fifty day moving average is $72.92 and its 200 day moving average is $79.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.93 billion, a PE ratio of 17.20, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.90 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is presently 56.70%.

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.