Townsquare Capital LLC Grows Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Townsquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,033 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,696 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $2,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 1.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,407,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,352,000 after acquiring an additional 45,884 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Sempra during the third quarter worth approximately $246,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter valued at $6,029,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at $380,000. Finally, Blankinship & Foster LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth $1,338,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. UBS Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.31.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, Director Pablo Ferrero acquired 2,600 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $70.96 per share, for a total transaction of $184,496.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,110,453.04. The trade was a 19.92 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE opened at $70.21 on Wednesday. Sempra has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $45.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.46, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.71.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 58.37%.

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.