Signaturefd LLC Boosts Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 217 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $482,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA of San Diego LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 29.9% during the third quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC now owns 2,439 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 100.0% in the third quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 68,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,673,000 after purchasing an additional 34,348 shares in the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 114.4% in the third quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 32,782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,230,000 after purchasing an additional 17,491 shares in the last quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 172,129 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $9,715,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,403,888.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,403,888.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 5,158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $367,301.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 43,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,063,739.04. 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 quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated 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 assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.50 price objective for the company. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.14.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE stock opened at $72.04 on Thursday. 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 has a one year low of $63.75 and a one year high of $79.38. The stock has a market cap of $45.54 billion, a PE ratio of 15.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.66.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.02. Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 51.77%.

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.