Wealth Alliance Has $537,000 Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Wealth Alliance boosted its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 674 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Sempra were worth $537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Sempra by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Plancorp LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 1,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in Sempra by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 9,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,410,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthsource Partners LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthsource Partners LLC now owns 2,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.50 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.14.

Sempra Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $67.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.54. Sempra has a 52-week low of $63.75 and a 52-week high of $79.51. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $70.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.51. The company has a market capitalization of $42.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.71.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a $0.62 dividend. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.77%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total value of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 18,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $141.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $280,353.77. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 156,622 shares of company stock worth $11,089,713 in the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.