M&T Bank Corp Buys 5,305 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,305 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Sempra were worth $3,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,324,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,870,591,000 after purchasing an additional 128,847 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,774,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,026 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,587,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,653 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,761,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,063,007,000 after purchasing an additional 145,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,695,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $639,921,000 after purchasing an additional 129,891 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $69.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $45.10 billion, a PE ratio of 15.25, a P/E/G 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. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.42. Sempra has a 1-year low of $64.89 and a 1-year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 58.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on SRE. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 price objective (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays cut Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.50.

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.