Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Acquired by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,740,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 115,372 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $328,147,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 633.4% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,624,000 after acquiring an additional 25,838 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 8.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $286,695,000 after buying an additional 278,183 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 1.9% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 357,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,865,000 after buying an additional 6,709 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the third quarter worth approximately $675,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Stock Performance

SRE stock opened at $72.01 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $82.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.58. Sempra has a 12 month low of $64.89 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $46.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 price objective (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.