LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI Purchases 155 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI raised its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings in Sempra were worth $586,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its position in Sempra by 250.0% in the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in Sempra by 225.6% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 180.4% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued 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 target price of $91.60.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE traded down $3.50 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $79.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,025,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,588,182. The company has a market cap of $50.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $66.40 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $89.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.58.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.