Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 205,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 231 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $18,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Sempra by 633.4% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new position in Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $286,695,000 after purchasing an additional 278,183 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the third quarter valued at approximately $675,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,071,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,956,000 after purchasing an additional 26,821 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other news, Director Pablo Ferrero bought 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $70.96 per share, for a total transaction of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,453.04. This represents a 19.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.33.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $69.65 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $45.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average of $77.23 and a 200 day moving average of $83.13. Sempra has a 12 month low of $64.89 and a 12 month high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

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.