Greenwich Wealth Management LLC Has $249,000 Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Greenwich Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 14.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 6,719 shares of company stock worth $467,180. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 price objective (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

Sempra Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $70.30 on Monday. Sempra has a 52-week low of $64.89 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $45.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $79.57 and a 200-day moving average of $84.00.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued 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. 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 prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

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.