Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Increases Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 77.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,402 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its stake in Sempra by 250.0% in the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Sempra by 4.8% in the third quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC now owns 10,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $857,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Sempra by 3.2% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 423,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,454,000 after purchasing an additional 12,966 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 47,986 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,013,000 after purchasing an additional 2,888 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE SRE opened at $69.23 on Monday. Sempra has a 1 year low of $64.89 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization 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 fifty day moving average of $81.42 and a 200 day moving average of $84.44.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This trade represents a 8.69 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lowered shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 target price (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.50.

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.