HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 669 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $956,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SRE. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 633.4% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,624,000 after buying an additional 25,838 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new position in Sempra in the third quarter valued at about $33,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Sempra by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $286,695,000 after acquiring an additional 278,183 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $675,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Sempra by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,071,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,956,000 after purchasing an additional 26,821 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders bought a total of 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $71.57 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $46.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.76, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $76.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.99. Sempra has a twelve month low of $64.89 and a twelve month high of $95.77.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Argus downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays cut shares of 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. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Five 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.33.

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.