Insider Buying: Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Director Purchases 2,600 Shares of Stock

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Director Pablo Ferrero bought 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $70.96 per share, for a total transaction of $184,496.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,453.04. This represents a 19.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $70.74 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $46.09 billion, a PE ratio of 15.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $79.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.84. Sempra has a 52 week low of $64.89 and a 52 week high of $95.77.

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. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. Sempra’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Sempra by 633.4% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,624,000 after acquiring an additional 25,838 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA bought a new position in Sempra during the third quarter valued at $33,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Sempra by 8.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $286,695,000 after purchasing an additional 278,183 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Sempra by 1.9% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 357,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,865,000 after purchasing an additional 6,709 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in Sempra during the third quarter valued at $675,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays downgraded Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.