Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Has $750,000 Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 21.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,534 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $750,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 633.4% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,624,000 after purchasing an additional 25,838 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the third quarter worth about $33,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Sempra by 8.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $286,695,000 after acquiring an additional 278,183 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Sempra by 1.9% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 357,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,865,000 after acquiring an additional 6,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth about $675,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director James C. Yardley acquired 5,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $69.74 per share, for a total transaction of $350,025.06. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $350,025.06. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 6,719 shares of company stock valued at $467,180. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $70.30 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $45.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s fifty day moving average is $79.57 and its 200 day moving average is $84.00. Sempra has a 52 week low of $64.89 and a 52 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.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SRE. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 target price (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

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.