Sei Investments Co. Has $19.54 Million Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 222,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,612 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $19,543,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SRE. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in Sempra by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Sempra by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Sempra by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 7,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI increased its holdings in Sempra by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 6,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Sempra by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,210 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael N. Mears purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $67.70 per share, for a total transaction of $67,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $338,500. This trade represents a 25.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $70.15 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $77.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.22. 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 cap of $45.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a 52-week low of $64.89 and a 52-week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. Analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current 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 represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Argus downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim dropped 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.33.

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.