Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Acquired by Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 15.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,784 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 496 shares during the quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $332,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SRE. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 225.6% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 180.4% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 price objective (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays cut Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sempra has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $618,823.35. The trade was a 8.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $69.47 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $81.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. Sempra has a twelve month low of $64.89 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The firm has a market cap of $45.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.30, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

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.