RWA Wealth Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

RWA Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $605,000.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total value of $360,586.86. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,712 shares in the company, valued at $1,403,888.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total value of $360,586.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,403,888.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 5,158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total value of $367,301.18. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 43,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,063,739.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 122,432 shares of company stock valued at $8,668,035 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $71.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $70.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.66. Sempra has a 52-week low of $63.75 and a 52-week high of $79.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.71.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.