Summit Financial LLC Makes New $348,000 Investment in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Summit Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,940 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 265.2% during the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SRE shares. Argus downgraded shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.33.

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Insider Activity at Sempra

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In 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 currently owned by insiders.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE SRE traded up $1.79 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $65.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,520,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,532,608. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.57. Sempra has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $42.83 billion, a PE ratio of 14.47, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. This is a positive change from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

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.