Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Acquires 2,639 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,639 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $2,968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. raised its holdings in Sempra by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 1,059,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,909,000 after buying an additional 172,489 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in Sempra by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 47,989 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,210,000 after acquiring an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 167,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,706,000 after acquiring an additional 3,009 shares during the period. Ossiam lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. Ossiam now owns 8,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $754,000 after acquiring an additional 2,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norinchukin Bank The grew its holdings in Sempra by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 30,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,641,000 after purchasing an additional 3,229 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on SRE. Citigroup dropped their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.31.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $70.40 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $72.17 and a 200 day moving average of $81.35. Sempra has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77. 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 capitalization of $45.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, Director Michael N. Mears acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $67.70 per share, for a total transaction of $67,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $338,500. This trade represents a 25.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero bought 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,110,453.04. This represents a 19.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Sempra

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.