Impact Capital Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 2,643 Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Impact Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,643 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SRE. FMR LLC increased its stake in Sempra by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,587,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,653 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Sempra by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,774,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,026 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth approximately $123,614,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 201.2% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,882,000 after acquiring an additional 414,406 shares during the period. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the third quarter worth approximately $33,023,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have bought 6,719 shares of company stock valued at $467,180 over the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $70.30 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $79.57 and a 200 day moving average of $83.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a 12-month low of $64.89 and a 12-month high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SRE. Guggenheim reduced their price target 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. UBS Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 price target (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.50.

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.