BankPlus Trust Department Acquires Shares of 600 Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $53,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 633.4% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,624,000 after buying an additional 25,838 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $286,695,000 after buying an additional 278,183 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 357,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,865,000 after buying an additional 6,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $675,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.20.

Sempra Stock Performance

SRE stock opened at $70.67 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $44.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a 1 year low of $64.89 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $83.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.93.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.