Intact Investment Management Inc. Buys 53,800 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 240.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 76,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 53,800 shares during the quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Sempra were worth $5,694,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 101.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,117,948 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,225,884,000 after acquiring an additional 31,334,782 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 101.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,206,231 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,646,750,000 after acquiring an additional 12,184,568 shares during the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 104.0% in the third quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 14,416,527 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $980,756,000 after acquiring an additional 7,348,746 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 147.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,360,225 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $976,926,000 after acquiring an additional 8,546,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 109.0% in the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 12,154,272 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $826,855,000 after acquiring an additional 6,338,545 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on SRE shares. StockNews.com lowered Sempra from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays upped their target price on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $82.14.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total value of $3,595,856.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total value of $3,595,856.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company's stock, valued at $141.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total value of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 122,432 shares of company stock worth $8,668,035. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE SRE traded down $0.66 on Friday, hitting $71.32. 3,161,506 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,951,422. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $70.55 and a 200 day moving average of $71.72. Sempra has a twelve month low of $63.75 and a twelve month high of $79.30. The company has a market capitalization of $45.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. Sempra's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.77%.

Sempra 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.