Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Takes $475,000 Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. purchased a new position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 6,351 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $475,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. PrairieView Partners LLC grew its position in Sempra by 100.0% during the third quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.50 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total value of $360,586.86. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,403,888.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 5,158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total value of $367,301.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 43,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,063,739.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total value of $360,586.86. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,403,888.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 122,432 shares of company stock valued at $8,668,035. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE SRE traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $71.32. 3,115,435 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,960,282. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Sempra has a 52 week low of $63.75 and a 52 week high of $79.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $70.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.68.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Sempra’s payout ratio is 51.77%.

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.