Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC Grows Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 609,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 47,554 shares during the quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Sempra worth $53,463,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 250.0% in the 3rd 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. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake 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 period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $70.64 on Wednesday. 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 twelve month low of $64.89 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $82.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.66. The stock has a market cap of $46.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $0.645 dividend. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. Guggenheim cut their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 price objective (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays lowered shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.54.

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.