Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Purchased by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,509,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 173,906 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Sempra were worth $395,551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 265.2% during the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Argus cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 price target (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Up 1.9 %

SRE stock opened at $72.93 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $47.51 billion, a PE ratio of 16.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a 12 month low of $64.89 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.92.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.37%.

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.