Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Bought by Oak Grove Capital LLC

Oak Grove Capital LLC grew its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 70.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,300 shares during the quarter. Sempra accounts for approximately 0.4% of Oak Grove Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Oak Grove Capital LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $2,395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Sempra by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 4.0% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 276,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,161,000 after buying an additional 10,720 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the third quarter valued at $211,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Sempra by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 181,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,586,000 after acquiring an additional 11,270 shares during the period. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Sempra by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 61,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,135,000 after acquiring an additional 5,200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $70.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $64.89 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The company has a market cap of $46.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 price objective (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.54.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.