Morey & Quinn Wealth Partners LLC Buys New Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Morey & Quinn Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 2,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 7,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI grew its position in Sempra by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 6,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Sempra by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,210 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

Sempra stock opened at $69.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. 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 has a 12-month low of $64.89 and a 12-month high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The company 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%. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. 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 3.72%. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 target price (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays cut Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.58.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is 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.