Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Acquires 3,714 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 31.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,714 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Sempra by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,740,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $328,147,000 after acquiring an additional 115,372 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in Sempra by 77.0% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 17,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,492,000 after acquiring an additional 7,402 shares in the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Sempra by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $468,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $70.64 on Wednesday. Sempra has a 52-week low of $64.89 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a fifty day moving average of $82.47 and a 200-day moving average of $84.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52.

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 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 company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.645 dividend. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 58.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.54.

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.