Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Bought by Apollon Wealth Management LLC

Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,026 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SRE. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Sempra by 99.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 30,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after buying an additional 15,080 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 104.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 77,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,266,000 after acquiring an additional 39,634 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 131.5% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 5,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 2,868 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra by 94.4% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 2,955 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in Sempra in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,121,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Mizuho cut their price target on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.23.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE stock opened at $76.18 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $70.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $48.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. Sempra has a 52-week low of $63.75 and a 52-week high of $78.70.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.01). Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The company had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 44.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $141.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total value of $360,586.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,712 shares in the company, valued at $1,403,888.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $141.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 122,432 shares of company stock valued at $8,668,035 over the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.