Maple Brown Abbott Ltd Has $85.47 Million Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Maple Brown Abbott Ltd raised its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,143,660 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 41,970 shares during the quarter. Sempra accounts for about 8.8% of Maple Brown Abbott Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd owned approximately 0.18% of Sempra worth $85,466,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SRE. Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Plancorp LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 1,992 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 9,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,410,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthsource Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthsource Partners LLC now owns 2,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $280,353.77. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $280,353.77. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 156,622 shares of company stock valued at $11,089,713. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sempra Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SRE traded up $1.53 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $67.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,481,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,959,926. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $70.46 and a 200-day moving average of $71.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Sempra has a 12-month low of $63.75 and a 12-month high of $79.51.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. Sempra's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. This is an increase from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is 51.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sempra from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Sempra from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.14.

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.