Patten Group Inc. Has $232,000 Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Patten Group Inc. cut its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 146 shares during the period. Patten Group Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Human Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its holdings in Sempra by 250.0% in the third 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. raised its holdings in Sempra by 225.6% in the fourth 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. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in Sempra by 180.4% in the third 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. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SRE shares. Barclays lowered shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.54.

Sempra Stock Down 1.1 %

Sempra stock opened at $70.64 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $46.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a 1-year low of $64.89 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.37%.

Sempra 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.