Glaxis Capital Management LLC Invests $263,000 in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Glaxis Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $263,000. Sempra accounts for approximately 0.7% of Glaxis Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Human Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on SRE shares. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. UBS Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Stock Down 1.1 %

Sempra stock opened at $68.70 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. 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 one year low of $64.89 and a one year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. 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 is presently 58.37%.

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.