LGT Group Foundation Has $2.30 Million Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

LGT Group Foundation increased its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the quarter. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Sempra were worth $2,298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Human Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 250.0% in 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 period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 225.6% in 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 period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 180.4% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Down 0.2 %

Sempra stock opened at $71.41 on Tuesday. Sempra has a 52 week low of $64.89 and a 52 week high of $95.77. 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 capitalization of $46.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.73, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.73.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on SRE. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 price target (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays downgraded Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.