Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Holdings Raised by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 160,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,693 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Sempra were worth $14,109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its position in Sempra by 250.0% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in Sempra by 225.6% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its position in Sempra by 180.4% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $71.41 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $46.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.73. Sempra has a 52 week low of $64.89 and a 52 week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on SRE. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 price target (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.92.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.