NewEdge Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 265.2% during the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays cut Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.31.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, Director James C. Yardley purchased 5,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $69.74 per share, with a total value of $350,025.06. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $350,025.06. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sempra Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of SRE opened at $72.34 on Wednesday. Sempra has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $47.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93, 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. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.29.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 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.