TCTC Holdings LLC Purchases 244 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

TCTC Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 265.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $29,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew 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 worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, Director James C. Yardley purchased 5,019 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $69.74 per share, with a total value of $350,025.06. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $350,025.06. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero purchased 2,600 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,453.04. The trade was a 19.92 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $71.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $79.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.92. Sempra has a 52 week low of $64.89 and a 52 week high of $95.77.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.37%.

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.