Independent Advisor Alliance Purchases 14,708 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 228.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,149 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,708 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,855,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 225.6% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 180.4% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, Director James C. Yardley bought 5,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $69.74 per share, for a total transaction of $350,025.06. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 5,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $350,025.06. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner purchased 700 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. The trade was a 8.69 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 6,719 shares of company stock valued at $467,180 over the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on SRE. Barclays lowered Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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 target price on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 price target (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

Sempra Trading Down 1.6 %

SRE opened at $67.84 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a 12 month low of $64.89 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.05.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.37%.

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.