Greenleaf Trust Purchases 665 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Greenleaf Trust grew its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Sempra were worth $677,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Mechanics Bank Trust Department raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department now owns 10,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $761,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 18,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,391,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 4,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S. raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 5,535 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in Sempra by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 value of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 156,622 shares of company stock worth $11,089,713. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.50 target price on the stock. Mizuho cut their price objective on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.14.

Sempra Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of SRE stock opened at $71.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.96 billion, a PE ratio of 14.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.71. Sempra has a 1-year low of $63.75 and a 1-year high of $79.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.40 and a 200 day moving average of $71.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.77%.

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.