Blue Trust Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 28.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,809 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 78,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,988,000 after purchasing an additional 11,303 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Sempra by 5.6% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 27,684 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,106,000 after buying an additional 1,463 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra by 3.6% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 0.3% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 117,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,944,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the second quarter valued at about $11,892,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sempra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.20.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $83.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $87.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.27. Sempra has a 1-year low of $66.40 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The firm has a market cap of $52.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.78.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.63%.

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.