Sierra Summit Advisors LLC Acquires 1,631 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Sierra Summit Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 31.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,631 shares during the quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Sempra by 55.6% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $723,000 after acquiring an additional 3,085 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Sempra by 38.2% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 30,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,559,000 after buying an additional 8,456 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Sempra by 4.6% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 469,214 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,241,000 after buying an additional 20,771 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $675,000. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $299,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were 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 owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $343,114.91. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,408,786.94. This represents a 19.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sempra Stock Down 6.8 %

SRE stock opened at $65.89 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Sempra has a 1-year low of $64.89 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $75.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.70.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 price target (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.33.

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.