Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Buys 245 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 31,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Sempra were worth $2,824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 0.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,324,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,870,591,000 after buying an additional 128,847 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,774,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,539,026 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Sempra by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,761,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,063,007,000 after acquiring an additional 145,873 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra by 1.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,695,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $639,921,000 after acquiring an additional 129,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Sempra by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,740,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $328,147,000 after purchasing an additional 115,372 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other news, Director Cynthia J. Warner purchased 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $70.15 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.22. The stock has a market cap of $45.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a 12 month low of $64.89 and a 12 month high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 price objective (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.33.

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.