Ethos Financial Group LLC Invests $134,000 in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Ethos Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $134,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its holdings in Sempra by 250.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Sempra by 225.6% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on SRE. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 price target (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a report on Monday. UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $69.55 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $81.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.47. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $64.89 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.31 billion, a PE ratio of 15.32, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

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

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.