Great Lakes Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,058 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,513 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $4,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 285 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Up 3.6 %

SRE opened at $70.30 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.97. Sempra has a 52 week low of $64.89 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $45.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $0.645 dividend. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SRE. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho cut their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.50.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, Director James C. Yardley purchased 5,019 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $69.74 per share, with a total value of $350,025.06. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 5,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $350,025.06. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 6,719 shares of company stock valued at $467,180. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.