KWB Wealth Takes Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

KWB Wealth purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $170,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 265.2% in the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Argus downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 price target on shares of Sempra and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays downgraded shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $595,193.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,260,117.94. This represents a 32.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $343,114.91. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,408,786.94. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 8,619 shares of company stock valued at $602,221 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE:SRE opened at $76.45 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $73.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.34. Sempra has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $49.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.70%.

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.