Opus Capital Group LLC Has $474,000 Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Opus Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,346 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the period. Opus Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 101.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,117,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,225,884,000 after acquiring an additional 31,334,782 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 101.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,206,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,646,750,000 after acquiring an additional 12,184,568 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 147.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,360,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $976,926,000 after acquiring an additional 8,546,205 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 104.0% during the third quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 14,416,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $980,756,000 after acquiring an additional 7,348,746 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at $1,000,291,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Stock Performance

Sempra stock traded up $1.53 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $67.94. The company had a trading volume of 2,486,247 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,959,926. The firm has a market cap of $42.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Sempra has a one year low of $63.75 and a one year high of $79.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $70.46 and a 200 day moving average of $71.53.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.83 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 5,158 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $367,301.18. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 43,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,063,739.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 156,622 shares of company stock worth $11,089,713 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.