Golden State Equity Partners Grows Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Golden State Equity Partners raised its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the quarter. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Sempra were worth $1,208,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Sempra by 101.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,117,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,225,884,000 after buying an additional 31,334,782 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 101.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,206,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,646,750,000 after purchasing an additional 12,184,568 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 147.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,360,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $976,926,000 after purchasing an additional 8,546,205 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 104.0% during the 3rd quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 14,416,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $980,756,000 after purchasing an additional 7,348,746 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 109.0% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 12,154,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $826,855,000 after purchasing an additional 6,338,545 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.50 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.14.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $280,353.77. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 122,432 shares of company stock worth $8,668,035 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $71.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $45.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50-day moving average is $70.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.70. Sempra has a 12-month low of $63.75 and a 12-month high of $79.30.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. Research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.77%.

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.