Cary Street Partners Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $56,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,647,000. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter worth approximately $665,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Sempra by 100.3% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,185,244 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $103,970,000 after purchasing an additional 593,481 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Sempra by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 24,762 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,172,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Sempra by 60.6% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,415,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $124,189,000 after purchasing an additional 534,381 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of SRE opened at $75.40 on Monday. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $49.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $70.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 56.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael N. Mears acquired 1,000 shares of Sempra 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 in the company, valued at approximately $338,500. This represents a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 target price on Sempra and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lowered shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.54.

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.