LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI Has $586,000 Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

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

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Sempra in the third quarter worth $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Sempra during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in Sempra by 225.6% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 180.4% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.60.

Sempra Trading Down 4.2 %

NYSE SRE traded down $3.50 during trading on Friday, reaching $79.32. 3,025,195 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,588,182. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $66.40 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. 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 firm has a market cap of $50.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $89.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.58.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. Analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.