Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Purchased by Fulton Bank N.A.

Fulton Bank N.A. grew its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 583 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra by 2.8% in the second quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Sempra by 3.4% during the first quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in shares of Sempra by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Sempra by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 38,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,854,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $77.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,630,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,983,821. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.50. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $63.75 and a fifty-two week high of $83.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.25, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.62.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.03). Sempra had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 8.95%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 27th were given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 27th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.99%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $457,927.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at $1,107,357.57. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Sempra news, Director Richard J. Mark bought 1,925 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $77.97 per share, for a total transaction of $150,092.25. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $422,597.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at $1,107,357.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SRE. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut their target price on shares of Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.27.

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.