Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Grows Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd increased its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 319.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 196,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 150,000 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Sempra were worth $14,980,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 3.5% during the second quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Sempra by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Sempra by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 38,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,854,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 4.0% during the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,794 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,107,357.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered their price objective on shares of Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. 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 report on Wednesday, August 7th. Mizuho increased their target price on Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.00.

Sempra Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of SRE stock opened at $82.97 on Friday. 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 $84.28. The stock has a market cap of $52.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.44.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted 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 company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 22.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 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.