Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Grows Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC grew its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,324,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,870,591,000 after buying an additional 128,847 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Sempra by 4.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $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% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,587,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,653 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 1.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 145,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 129,891 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Down 1.2 %

SRE opened at $81.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.41. Sempra has a 1-year low of $66.40 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.20.

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.