Larson Financial Group LLC Has $458,000 Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,221 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $458,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Sempra by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,324,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,870,591,000 after acquiring an additional 128,847 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Sempra by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,774,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,587,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,653 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,761,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,063,007,000 after acquiring an additional 145,873 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Sempra by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,695,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $639,921,000 after acquiring an additional 129,891 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of SRE stock opened at $69.47 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.36. 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 twelve month low of $64.89 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $45.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.30, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.645 dividend. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SRE shares. Barclays lowered Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, Director Cynthia J. Warner purchased 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.