Dakota Wealth Management Grows Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Dakota Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,310 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,280 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management’s holdings in Sempra were worth $5,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 249,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,065,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at about $231,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 5,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $900,000 after acquiring an additional 705 shares during the period. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Sempra by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 28,318 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,484,000 after acquiring an additional 1,071 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $82.86 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.25, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50 day moving average of $88.25 and a 200 day moving average of $84.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Sempra has a 1-year low of $66.40 and a 1-year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.63%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays raised their price target on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.60.

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.