UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Buys 258,979 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,601,372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 258,979 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.73% of Sempra worth $403,632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth about $1,535,000,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,369,076,000 after purchasing an additional 4,082,261 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 70.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,666,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $584,763,000 after purchasing an additional 2,758,037 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 71.3% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,651,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $408,069,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,797,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511,313 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Sempra from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Mizuho cut their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup cut their price target on Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Argus downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.77.

Sempra Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $78.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $71.92 and a 200 day moving average of $80.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. Sempra has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.94 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.70%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michael N. Mears purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $67.70 per share, with a total value of $67,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $338,500. This represents a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner purchased 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.