NEOS Investment Management LLC Buys 8,708 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 31.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,708 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $3,221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 265.2% during the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its stake in Sempra by 225.6% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, Director Michael N. Mears purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $67.70 per share, with a total value of $67,700.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $338,500. The trade was a 25.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SRE shares. Barclays downgraded Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 price target (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim dropped their target price 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, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.33.

Sempra Stock Performance

Sempra stock opened at $69.65 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $77.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.13. 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 company has a market cap of $45.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a twelve month low of $64.89 and a twelve month high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 given a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.37%.

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.