Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Position Increased by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 122.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 732,900 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 403,408 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.12% of Sempra worth $64,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Sempra by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,018,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,527,944,000 after purchasing an additional 490,269 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Sempra by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,369,076,000 after acquiring an additional 4,082,261 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Sempra by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,797,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511,313 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,535,000,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,072,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,143,248,000 after buying an additional 311,094 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of SRE traded up $1.11 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $74.42. 1,840,762 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,401,257. Sempra has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $71.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $48.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sempra's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a $0.645 dividend. This is a boost from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner purchased 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on SRE. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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. Finally, Argus lowered Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.31.

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.