D.A. Davidson & CO. Buys 5,197 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 14.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,197 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $3,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Monetary Management Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 100.0% in the third 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. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Wolverine Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Sempra by 85.6% during the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Down 1.9 %

Sempra stock opened at $75.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.70. Sempra has a twelve month low of $63.75 and a twelve month high of $78.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a 50 day moving average of $72.28 and a 200-day moving average of $72.41.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 8.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 44.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 27th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 27th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.93%.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, Director Richard J. Mark acquired 1,925 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $77.97 per share, with a total value of $150,092.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $422,597.40. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Sempra news, Director Richard J. Mark acquired 1,925 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $77.97 per share, with a total value of $150,092.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $422,597.40. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 122,432 shares of company stock worth $8,668,035 over the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.86.

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.