51,039 Shares in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Purchased by Buck Wealth Strategies LLC

Buck Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 51,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,477,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 250.0% in 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 last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 180.4% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SRE. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.20.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $82.30 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $52.13 billion, a PE ratio of 18.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $85.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.46. 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 has a 52-week low of $66.40 and a 52-week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.27% 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.