Meeder Asset Management Inc. Invests $29,000 in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $29,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra by 265.2% during the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in Sempra by 225.6% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, Director Cynthia J. Warner purchased 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 8,759 shares in the company, valued at $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $72.93 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $76.45 and its 200 day moving average is $82.92. Sempra has a 1-year low of $64.89 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $47.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.06, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. Research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays cut Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.33.

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.