HB Wealth Management LLC Purchases 3,650 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 24.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,787 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,650 shares during the quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,648,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in Sempra by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 5,178 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $454,000 after buying an additional 975 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in shares of Sempra by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter worth about $359,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its position in Sempra by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 59,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,262,000 after purchasing an additional 3,163 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of SRE stock opened at $85.24 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $53.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average of $88.50 and a 200-day moving average of $83.92. Sempra has a 12-month low of $66.40 and a 12-month high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.60.

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.