Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Bought by Brookstone Capital Management

Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 132.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,575 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,750 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management's holdings in Sempra were worth $577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 250.0% in the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 225.6% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 180.4% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in Sempra by 35.5% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 740 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sempra Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE SRE traded up $1.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $85.24. 3,627,955 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,950,581. Sempra has a 1-year low of $66.40 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $88.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.99 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on SRE. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays upped their target price on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Sempra from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $91.60.

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.