Bank of New York Mellon Corp Buys 3,536 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,143,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,536 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Sempra were worth $451,153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 250.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 225.6% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 180.4% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Sempra stock opened at $70.67 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.93. Sempra has a 12 month low of $64.89 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The company has a market cap of $44.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $91.20.

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.