Cypress Wealth Services LLC Grows Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Cypress Wealth Services LLC raised its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 27.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,186 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 677 shares during the quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its holdings in Sempra by 250.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 225.6% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 180.4% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Sempra by 35.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Up 1.5 %

SRE opened at $85.24 on Friday. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $88.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.73. 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 market cap of $53.99 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.78.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley raised Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.