Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Increases Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC raised its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 34.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,569 shares during the period. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 101.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,117,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,225,884,000 after acquiring an additional 31,334,782 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 101.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,206,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,646,750,000 after acquiring an additional 12,184,568 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 147.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,360,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $976,926,000 after acquiring an additional 8,546,205 shares during the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra by 104.0% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra by 109.0% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 12,154,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $826,855,000 after purchasing an additional 6,338,545 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE traded down $0.65 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $71.63. The stock had a trading volume of 2,263,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,946,043. The firm has a market cap of $45.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $63.75 and a fifty-two week high of $79.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $70.60 and a 200-day moving average of $71.76.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho cut their price objective on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.50 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction 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 approximately $770,983.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction 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 approximately $770,983.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 5,158 shares of the 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 $367,301.18. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 43,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,063,739.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 122,432 shares of company stock valued at $8,668,035. Corporate 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.