Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Purchases New Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 347,259 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $30,462,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.05% of Sempra as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. L & S Advisors Inc raised its stake in Sempra by 52.6% during the fourth quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 41,601 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,649,000 after acquiring an additional 14,338 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Sempra by 8.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $286,695,000 after acquiring an additional 278,183 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Sempra by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,071,091 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $93,956,000 after acquiring an additional 26,821 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in Sempra by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 9,479 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $831,000 after acquiring an additional 990 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Sempra by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,740,845 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $328,147,000 after acquiring an additional 115,372 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on SRE. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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 research note on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective 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, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $595,193.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,260,117.94. This trade represents a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 700 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of Sempra stock traded up $0.52 on Friday, hitting $78.47. The company had a trading volume of 8,580,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,770,097. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $51.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63. Sempra has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77.

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

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.70%.

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.