Parallel Advisors LLC Purchases 190 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $917,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Sempra by 225.6% in 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 last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra by 180.4% in 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, Director Pablo Ferrero purchased 2,600 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.96 per share, for a total transaction of $184,496.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,110,453.04. The trade was a 19.92 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of SRE stock opened at $71.06 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.65, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a one year low of $64.89 and a one year high of $95.77. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $78.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SRE shares. UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets dropped 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, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.50.

Sempra 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.