18,600 Shares in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Bought by Enhancing Capital LLC

Enhancing Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 18,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,632,000. Sempra comprises 1.3% of Enhancing Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its stake in Sempra by 265.2% in the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in Sempra by 225.6% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, Director Cynthia J. Warner purchased 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. The trade was a 8.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Michael N. Mears purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $67.70 per share, for a total transaction of $67,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $338,500. The trade was a 25.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on SRE. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.50.

Sempra Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of SRE opened at $71.03 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a 12 month low of $64.89 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $79.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.92. The firm has a market cap of $46.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued 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. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

Sempra Company 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.