Sowell Financial Services LLC Has $1.71 Million Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Sowell Financial Services LLC raised its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 14.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,475 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,462 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 225.6% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 180.4% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $69.47 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $45.26 billion, a PE ratio of 15.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $81.06 and a 200-day moving average of $84.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Sempra has a one year low of $64.89 and a one year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays lowered Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.50.

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.