Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC Raises Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 40,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,243 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $3,586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the third quarter worth $33,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Sempra by 8.8% in 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 stake in 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 in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth about $675,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Sempra by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 190,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,949,000 after purchasing an additional 23,970 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Stock Down 0.0 %

SRE opened at $82.78 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.16. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The firm has a market cap of $52.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.23, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.63%.

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.