Metis Global Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 47,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $4,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SRE. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its position in shares of Sempra by 250.0% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Sempra by 225.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in Sempra by 180.4% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SRE. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.54.

Sempra Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of SRE opened at $71.50 on Friday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $83.13 and a 200 day moving average of $84.75. The company has a market cap of $45.29 billion, a PE ratio of 15.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a 52-week low of $64.89 and a 52-week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.11%.

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.