Triad Wealth Partners LLC Invests $201,000 in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought 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 (SEC). The fund bought 2,295 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SRE. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra by 9.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,587,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,653 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Sempra by 4.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,774,974,000 after buying an additional 1,539,026 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Sempra by 201.2% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,882,000 after buying an additional 414,406 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA bought a new stake in Sempra in the third quarter valued at about $33,023,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Sempra by 38.3% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,420,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $118,219,000 after buying an additional 393,277 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Up 2.0 %

SRE opened at $72.01 on Thursday. Sempra has a 12 month low of $64.89 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $46.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $82.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.58.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lowered Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.54.

Sempra Company 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.