Custom Index Systems LLC Acquires New Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Custom Index Systems LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,289 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $464,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra by 1.6% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $731,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI raised its position in shares of Sempra by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 6,677 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $586,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 0.3% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,518 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,890,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. CX Institutional grew its position in Sempra by 5.5% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,083 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 4,031 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $91.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Sempra Stock Down 1.0 %

Sempra stock traded down $0.82 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $81.77. The stock had a trading volume of 1,797,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,776,903. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.78. 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 $66.40 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $86.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.45.

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

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.63%.

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.