Simmons Bank Buys 876 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Simmons Bank boosted its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 27.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Sempra were worth $306,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Monetary Management Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the third quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 100.0% in the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC raised its position in Sempra by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 85.6% during the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total value of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $770,983.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 122,432 shares of company stock worth $8,668,035 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of SRE traded up $1.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $75.00. The company had a trading volume of 2,176,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,950,358. Sempra has a 1-year low of $63.75 and a 1-year high of $78.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.86. The stock has a market cap of $47.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was down 44.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on SRE. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.23.

About Sempra

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.