Phillips Financial Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Phillips Financial Management LLC grew its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Phillips Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Impact Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at about $232,000. PGGM Investments purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at about $156,000. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 38.2% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 3,539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 979 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 112.3% in the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 69,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,070,000 after buying an additional 36,626 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tredje AP fonden raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 95.6% in the fourth quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 184,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,178,000 after buying an additional 90,131 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael N. Mears purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $67.70 per share, with a total value of $67,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $338,500. This trade represents a 25.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $69.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $44.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.16. Sempra has a 1 year low of $64.89 and a 1 year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for 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 firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

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.