Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 289,731 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 19.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,757,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 289,731 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.28% of Sempra worth $133,679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,123,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,026,969,000 after acquiring an additional 2,917,668 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Sempra by 1.9% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 12,578,779 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $903,534,000 after purchasing an additional 233,819 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd raised its holdings in Sempra by 4.8% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 2,891,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $207,662,000 after purchasing an additional 133,119 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 116,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 2,404,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $182,158,000 after buying an additional 48,592 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Trading Up 0.8 %

Sempra stock opened at $83.18 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $80.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.92. The company has a market capitalization of $52.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.75. Sempra has a 52 week low of $63.75 and a 52 week high of $84.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The business’s revenue was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Sempra from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on Sempra from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America started coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. One 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 company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.00.

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.