Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 192,298 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 717 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $14,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 100.0% in the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Sempra by 100.0% in the third quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 100.0% in the third quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Sempra by 85.6% in the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Richard J. Mark acquired 1,925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $77.97 per share, with a total value of $150,092.25. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $422,597.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 122,432 shares of company stock worth $8,668,035 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $75.84 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.70. Sempra has a one year low of $63.75 and a one year high of $78.83. The company’s fifty day moving average is $72.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.62.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 8.95%. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was down 44.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 27th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.86.

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.