Alpha Cubed Investments LLC Has $721,000 Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 20.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,637 shares during the quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mechanics Bank Trust Department increased its position in shares of Sempra by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department now owns 10,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $761,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank increased its holdings in Sempra by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 18,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,391,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Clarius Group LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 4,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. increased its holdings in Sempra by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 5,535 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its holdings in Sempra by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered 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 set a $82.00 target price on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total value of $3,595,856.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total transaction of $360,586.86. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total value of $3,595,856.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $141.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 122,432 shares of company stock valued at $8,668,035 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $71.63 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $70.60 and a 200 day moving average of $71.76. The company has a market capitalization of $45.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.71. Sempra has a 1-year low of $63.75 and a 1-year high of $79.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion during 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%. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a $0.62 dividend. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. 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.