Cypress Wealth Services LLC Boosts Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Cypress Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 27.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,186 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 677 shares during the quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the third quarter valued at $33,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Sempra by 8.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 357,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,865,000 after purchasing an additional 6,709 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth about $675,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 14.4% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 190,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,949,000 after buying an additional 23,970 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Up 1.5 %

SRE opened at $85.24 on Friday. Sempra has a 1 year low of $66.40 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $88.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $53.99 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.78.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on SRE. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock 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 company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by 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.