HBW Advisory Services LLC Acquires New Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

HBW Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. DNB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in Sempra by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 142,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,834,000 after purchasing an additional 8,480 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in Sempra by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 21,586 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 26,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,015,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 59.0% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $618,000 after acquiring an additional 3,018 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered their price objective 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 increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

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

Sempra Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:SRE traded down $1.61 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $77.09. The company had a trading volume of 4,744,047 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,993,302. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Sempra has a one year low of $63.75 and a one year high of $83.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $76.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.74.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.01). Sempra had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 8.95%. The business had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 44.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 27th were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 27th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.99%.

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.