Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Sempra by 99.1% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 30,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 15,080 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Sempra by 104.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 77,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,266,000 after buying an additional 39,634 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in Sempra by 131.5% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 5,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 2,868 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 94.4% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 2,955 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor Partners II LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra by 94.1% during the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 38,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,622,000 after acquiring an additional 18,681 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total value of $3,595,856.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 122,432 shares of company stock worth $8,668,035. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.23.

Sempra Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:SRE opened at $75.23 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. Sempra has a 1-year low of $63.75 and a 1-year high of $78.70.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its 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). The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The business’s revenue was down 44.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.77%.

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.