Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Sempra by 633.4% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,624,000 after acquiring an additional 25,838 shares in the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $286,695,000 after acquiring an additional 278,183 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Sempra by 1.9% in 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 Sempra in the 3rd quarter valued at $675,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Down 18.9 %

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $70.67 on Wednesday. Sempra has a 1 year low of $64.89 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $83.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $44.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on SRE shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price 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. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company 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.com, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $91.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $165.88. The trade was 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.

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.