Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. Invests $249,000 in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SRE. FMR LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $1,587,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,653 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 4.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,539,026 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $123,614,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 201.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 414,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in Sempra in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,023,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE SRE opened at $69.00 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.16. The stock has a market cap of $44.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a 12-month low of $64.89 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael N. Mears bought 1,000 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $67.70 per share, with a total value of $67,700.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $338,500. The trade was a 25.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on SRE. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 target price (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.50.

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.