Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Purchased by Wedmont Private Capital

Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Sempra were worth $535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its position in Sempra by 250.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in Sempra by 225.6% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC increased its position in Sempra by 180.4% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its position in Sempra by 35.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SRE. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.60.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE stock opened at $82.55 on Thursday. Sempra has a 1 year low of $66.40 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $88.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.73. The firm has a market cap of $52.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.18, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.78.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

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.