Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Makes New $201,000 Investment in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC 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 2,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Sempra by 173.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 209,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,952,000 after acquiring an additional 133,085 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 16.8% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 78,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,988,000 after purchasing an additional 11,303 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 5.6% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 27,684 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,106,000 after buying an additional 1,463 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,380,000 after buying an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in Sempra in the 2nd quarter worth about $114,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Down 0.7 %

SRE stock opened at $82.16 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $87.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.22. The stock has a market cap of $52.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.10, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a twelve month low of $66.40 and a twelve month 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SRE. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.20.

Sempra 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.