Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 108.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,888 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,153 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $739,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 101.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,117,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,225,884,000 after purchasing an additional 31,334,782 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Sempra by 101.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,206,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,646,750,000 after purchasing an additional 12,184,568 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC raised its position in Sempra by 104.0% in the third quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 14,416,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $980,756,000 after purchasing an additional 7,348,746 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 147.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,360,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $976,926,000 after purchasing an additional 8,546,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 109.0% in the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 12,154,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $826,855,000 after buying an additional 6,338,545 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the topic of several recent research reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.50 price target on the stock. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Sempra Stock Down 0.8 %

SRE stock opened at $68.11 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $43.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.22, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.71. Sempra has a 1-year low of $63.75 and a 1-year high of $79.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $70.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 34,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total transaction of $2,421,677.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $141.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $141.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 34,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $2,421,677.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $141.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 156,622 shares of company stock valued at $11,089,713 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.