Farther Finance Advisors LLC Acquires 2,046 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 65.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,046 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. L & S Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 52.6% during the 4th quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 41,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,649,000 after buying an additional 14,338 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Sempra by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,071,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,956,000 after acquiring an additional 26,821 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in Sempra by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 9,479 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $831,000 after acquiring an additional 990 shares during the last quarter. Blue Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,556,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Sempra by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,740,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $328,147,000 after purchasing an additional 115,372 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.75.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE stock opened at $73.77 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $74.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.10. The firm has a market cap of $48.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.64. 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 $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.12. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra’s payout ratio is 56.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $595,193.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 16,969 shares in the company, valued at $1,260,117.94. The trade was a 32.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was 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 directly owns 19,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,408,786.94. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.