Leisure Capital Management Takes Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Leisure Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $319,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 118.6% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,279,000 after buying an additional 10,198 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Sempra by 106.9% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Sempra by 98.2% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,287 shares during the period. CX Institutional lifted its position in Sempra by 99.6% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,104 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 1,549 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its position in Sempra by 100.7% during the third quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 6,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $445,000 after purchasing an additional 3,284 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In related news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total transaction of $360,586.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,403,888.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total transaction of $360,586.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,403,888.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 122,432 shares of company stock valued at $8,668,035. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE stock traded down $0.66 on Friday, hitting $71.32. 3,161,506 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,951,422. The firm has a market cap of $45.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.89, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.71. Sempra has a 52 week low of $63.75 and a 52 week high of $79.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.68. 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 (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.50 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

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.