Trek Financial LLC Invests $2.80 Million in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Trek Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 31,858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,795,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SRE. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Sempra by 55.6% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 38.2% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 30,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,559,000 after purchasing an additional 8,456 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 20,771 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the third quarter worth about $675,000. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra in the third quarter valued at approximately $299,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on SRE. UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Argus downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays cut 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 report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Five equities 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 stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.33.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $65.89 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $42.96 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $64.89 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The company has a fifty day moving average of $75.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.70.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 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.