Sunbelt Securities Inc. Has $480,000 Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 55.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,372 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 769.4% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 1,685 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Sempra by 118.6% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 15,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 8,149 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 100.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 20,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,419,000 after acquiring an additional 10,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 101.0% in the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 276,938 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,840,000 after purchasing an additional 139,174 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other Sempra news, Director Richard J. Mark purchased 1,925 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $77.97 per share, for a total transaction of $150,092.25. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $422,597.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Richard J. Mark purchased 1,925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $77.97 per share, for a total transaction of $150,092.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,420 shares in the company, valued at $422,597.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $457,927.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.10.

Sempra Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of SRE stock opened at $76.09 on Thursday. Sempra has a 12-month low of $63.75 and a 12-month high of $78.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $74.78 and a 200-day moving average of $72.97. The company has a market capitalization of $47.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.74.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.95% and a net margin of 20.99%. The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was down 44.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 27th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 27th. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.93%.

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.