West Oak Capital LLC Purchases 905 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

West Oak Capital LLC increased its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 696.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the quarter. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $91,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Graypoint LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI boosted its stake in Sempra by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 6,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $586,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra by 225.6% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Sempra by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 144,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,062,000 after purchasing an additional 2,230 shares during the period. Finally, Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock traded down $3.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $78.92. 8,190,681 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,485,179. Sempra has a 12 month low of $66.40 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $89.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.99 billion, a PE ratio of 17.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.78.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America began coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.