4,756 Shares in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Acquired by US Asset Management LLC

US Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 4,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $355,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 100.0% in the third quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Sempra by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in Sempra by 85.6% during the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total value of $4,063,936.89. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total value of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,292,105.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at $770,983.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 122,432 shares of company stock valued at $8,668,035 over the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE stock traded up $0.95 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $76.18. 3,376,992 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,978,087. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $70.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.89. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $63.75 and a fifty-two week high of $78.70. The company has a market cap of $48.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The business had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 44.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 51.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.23.

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.