Pablo Ferrero Buys 2,600 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Stock

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Director Pablo Ferrero purchased 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,110,453.04. The trade was a 19.92 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Sempra Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SRE traded up $0.82 on Monday, hitting $71.03. The company had a trading volume of 4,759,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,290,707. Sempra has a 1 year low of $64.89 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. Sempra’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 58.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SRE. Barclays downgraded shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Sempra by 633.4% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,624,000 after purchasing an additional 25,838 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth $33,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 8.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $286,695,000 after acquiring an additional 278,183 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Sempra by 1.9% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 357,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,865,000 after acquiring an additional 6,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in Sempra in the third quarter valued at about $675,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

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.