Bcwm LLC Buys 6,149 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Bcwm LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 143,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,149 shares during the period. Sempra comprises about 3.9% of Bcwm LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Bcwm LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $10,901,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SRE. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at $958,253,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Sempra by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,123,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,026,969,000 after buying an additional 2,917,668 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Sempra by 5,279.4% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,583,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $113,591,000 after acquiring an additional 1,554,374 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 1st quarter worth about $64,994,000. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP grew its stake in Sempra by 96.9% during the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,636,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $117,528,000 after acquiring an additional 805,084 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of SRE stock opened at $82.97 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.51. Sempra has a twelve month low of $63.75 and a twelve month high of $84.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $52.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.38, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 22.31%. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SRE. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Sempra from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Sempra from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.00.

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.