NEOS Investment Management LLC Buys 8,708 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 31.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,708 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $3,221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 265.2% in the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 225.6% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero bought 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,110,453.04. This trade represents a 19.92 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Down 0.6 %

SRE stock opened at $69.65 on Friday. 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 $64.89 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $77.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.13.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 price target (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Argus lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.33.

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.