TrueMark Investments LLC Makes New $3.39 Million Investment in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

TrueMark Investments LLC purchased a new position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 38,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,393,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Sempra by 633.4% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,624,000 after buying an additional 25,838 shares in the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new position in Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Sempra by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $286,695,000 after purchasing an additional 278,183 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $675,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,071,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,956,000 after buying an additional 26,821 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE stock opened at $69.30 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a 12 month low of $64.89 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $45.15 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $78.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.40.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. 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 yield of 3.72%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on SRE. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Argus lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their target price on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.58.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Pablo Ferrero bought 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,110,453.04. This trade represents a 19.92 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.