Financial Management Professionals Inc. Buys 709 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 16.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 709 shares during the quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 195.1% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 419 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.10.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $76.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.85, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Sempra has a twelve month low of $63.75 and a twelve month high of $78.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.02.

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

Sempra Announces Dividend

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

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.