Apella Capital LLC Makes New $211,000 Investment in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Apella Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its holdings in Sempra by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 6,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,251 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 19,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 177.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 49,346 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,329,000 after purchasing an additional 31,542 shares during the last quarter. Define Financial LLC bought a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $358,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on 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 started coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.60.

Sempra Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of SRE opened at $84.03 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $88.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.72. The stock has a market cap of $53.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a 12 month low of $66.40 and a 12 month high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) 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 return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

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.