TrueMark Investments LLC Invests $3.39 Million in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

TrueMark Investments LLC purchased a new position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 38,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,393,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 31,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,649,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $81,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Sempra by 55.7% in the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 7,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $592,000 after acquiring an additional 2,530 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 8.7% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 117,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,808,000 after purchasing an additional 9,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 20.6% during the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 9,520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $796,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on SRE shares. Barclays lowered Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Guggenheim lowered their target price 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, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.58.

Sempra Trading Down 1.4 %

Sempra stock opened at $69.30 on Wednesday. Sempra has a one year low of $64.89 and a one year high of $95.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $78.05 and its 200 day moving average is $83.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.15 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. 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 results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 58.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.