V Square Quantitative Management LLC Has $968,000 Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 23.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,586 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Sempra by 101.8% during the 3rd 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. Norges Bank bought a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $958,253,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Sempra by 101.4% during 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 period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 147.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,360,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $976,926,000 after acquiring an additional 8,546,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newport Trust Company LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 104.0% in the 3rd quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 14,416,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $980,756,000 after purchasing an additional 7,348,746 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total value of $3,595,856.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at $770,983.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 122,432 shares of company stock worth $8,668,035. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on SRE shares. StockNews.com downgraded Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.86.

Sempra Stock Up 0.4 %

SRE stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $78.42. 3,152,586 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,035,939. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $72.04 and its 200-day moving average is $72.35. Sempra has a 12 month low of $63.75 and a 12 month high of $78.83. The company has a market cap of $49.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.37, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.95% and a net margin of 20.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 44.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 27th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 27th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.93%.

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.