Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Acquired by Townsquare Capital LLC

Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,033 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,696 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $2,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,407,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,352,000 after buying an additional 45,884 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Sempra in the third quarter valued at $246,000. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the third quarter worth about $6,029,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the third quarter worth about $380,000. Finally, Blankinship & Foster LLC acquired a new position in Sempra during the third quarter worth approximately $1,338,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SRE. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.31.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $70.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.46, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.71. Sempra has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 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 company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares in the company, valued at $618,823.35. The trade was a 8.69 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.