Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Bought by Schechter Investment Advisors LLC

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $290,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meridian Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $468,000. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,245,000. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its position in shares of Sempra by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 30,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,632,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation raised its position in Sempra by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 26,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,298,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $72,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim cut their target price on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.54.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $72.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $46.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.58. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $64.89 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. Sempra’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s payout ratio is 58.37%.

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.