Stifel Financial Corp Buys 5,350 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 474,564 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,350 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned 0.07% of Sempra worth $41,629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,018,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,527,944,000 after acquiring an additional 490,269 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised 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 valued at $3,369,076,000 after buying an additional 4,082,261 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,797,376,000 after buying an additional 1,511,313 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $1,535,000,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,072,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,143,248,000 after acquiring an additional 311,094 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Sempra Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of SRE traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $75.69. The company had a trading volume of 886,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,715,276. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $49.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. Sempra has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The company's 50 day moving average price is $71.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.09.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. This is a positive change from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Sempra's payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, Director Michael N. Mears bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $67.70 per share, with a total value of $67,700.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $338,500. The trade was a 25.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $343,114.91. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,408,786.94. This represents a 19.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Mizuho lowered 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. Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 price objective on Sempra and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group cut Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.54.

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.