Meridian Wealth Management LLC Purchases Shares of 5,336 Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 5,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $468,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 250.0% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 225.6% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 180.4% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $72.01 on Thursday. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $64.89 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $82.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.58.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results 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. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s payout ratio is 58.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.54.

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.