Everence Capital Management Inc. Grows Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 49.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,490 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Wealth Alliance increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 7,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Sempra by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 7,516 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC increased its stake in Sempra by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 5,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares during the last quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in Sempra by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 35,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,687,000 after purchasing an additional 4,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Sempra by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 404,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,194,000 after purchasing an additional 84,133 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $770,983.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 156,622 shares of company stock worth $11,089,713 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.50 target price for the company. Mizuho cut their price target on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $66.41 on Wednesday. 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 12-month low of $63.75 and a 12-month high of $79.51. The company has a market cap of $41.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.53.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. Sempra’s payout ratio is 51.77%.

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.