BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Acquires 260,951 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 168.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 416,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 260,951 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp owned 0.07% of Sempra worth $31,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Sempra by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,123,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,026,969,000 after buying an additional 2,917,668 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 12,578,779 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $903,534,000 after acquiring an additional 233,819 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd lifted its holdings in Sempra by 4.8% during the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 2,891,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $207,662,000 after purchasing an additional 133,119 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Sempra by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,629,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $196,466,000 after purchasing an additional 116,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in Sempra by 2.1% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 2,404,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $182,158,000 after purchasing an additional 48,592 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE opened at $84.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.64, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Sempra has a 12-month low of $63.75 and a 12-month high of $84.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $80.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.05.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.03). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 22.31%. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Sempra from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH decreased their price objective on Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.00.

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.