James C. Yardley Buys 5,019 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Stock

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Director James C. Yardley purchased 5,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $69.74 per share, for a total transaction of $350,025.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $350,025.06. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Sempra Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of SRE opened at $70.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 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 has a market capitalization of $45.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.98.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in Sempra by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 8,194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 6,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on SRE. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.50.

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.