5,872 Shares in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Acquired by Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV

Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 5,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $515,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Sempra by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 7,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 6,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $586,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Sempra by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,210 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Up 0.3 %

Sempra stock opened at $71.57 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $76.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.99. The company has a market capitalization of $46.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a 52 week low of $64.89 and a 52 week high of $95.77. 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 (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on SRE. UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 target price (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. 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 report on Tuesday, March 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.33.

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.