NewEdge Wealth LLC Sells 988 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

NewEdge Wealth LLC decreased its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 988 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $2,393,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SRE. Clarius Group LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 4,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,470,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $288,000. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Sempra by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 7,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 94,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,032,000 after purchasing an additional 12,398 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.50 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. StockNews.com lowered Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at $770,983.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 34,190 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $2,421,677.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 156,622 shares of company stock worth $11,089,713 over the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Stock Performance

Sempra stock opened at $68.69 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $70.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.54. Sempra has a 52-week low of $63.75 and a 52-week high of $79.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.71.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.77%.

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.