Stonegate Investment Group LLC Sells 246 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 246 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 250.0% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Sempra by 225.6% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 180.4% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 35.5% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays decreased their price target on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.20.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE stock opened at $81.76 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $51.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.25. Sempra has a 1 year low of $66.40 and a 1 year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.63%.

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.