Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. Purchases New Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 8,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $782,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 265.2% in the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays downgraded Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Argus cut shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.31.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total value of $343,114.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,408,786.94. This trade represents a 19.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of Sempra stock traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $70.34. 1,017,464 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,674,970. The company has a market capitalization of $45.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a fifty day moving average of $73.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.79. Sempra has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77. 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 (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $0.645 dividend. This is a positive change from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. Sempra's payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

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.