Wealth Alliance Increases Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Wealth Alliance increased its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 674 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Sempra were worth $537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. PrairieView Partners LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 100.0% during the third quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in Sempra by 100.0% in the third quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 380 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 119.9% during the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Monetary Management Group Inc. raised its position in Sempra by 100.0% during the third quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Essex Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in Sempra by 100.0% during the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 34,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $2,421,677.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 34,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $2,421,677.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 156,622 shares of company stock valued at $11,089,713 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $67.94 on Thursday. Sempra has a 52 week low of $63.75 and a 52 week high of $79.51. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.51. The firm has a market cap of $42.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. Sempra’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.50 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.14.

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.