Maple Brown Abbott Ltd Acquires 41,970 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Maple Brown Abbott Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,143,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,970 shares during the quarter. Sempra comprises approximately 8.8% of Maple Brown Abbott Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd’s holdings in Sempra were worth $85,466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 101.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,117,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,225,884,000 after buying an additional 31,334,782 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Sempra by 101.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,206,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,646,750,000 after acquiring an additional 12,184,568 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC increased its stake in Sempra by 104.0% during the third quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 14,416,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $980,756,000 after purchasing an additional 7,348,746 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 147.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,360,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $976,926,000 after purchasing an additional 8,546,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 109.0% in the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 12,154,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $826,855,000 after purchasing an additional 6,338,545 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total value of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total value of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $770,983.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total value of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,292,105.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 156,622 shares of company stock valued at $11,089,713. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE SRE traded up $1.57 on Wednesday, reaching $67.98. The stock had a trading volume of 1,467,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,945,038. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $42.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $70.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.53. Sempra has a 12-month low of $63.75 and a 12-month high of $79.51.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.02. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com cut Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

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.