Guggenheim Capital LLC Purchases 2,029 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 102,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,029 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $8,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its stake in Sempra by 265.2% during the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Up 0.4 %

SRE stock opened at $70.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $72.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.63. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. Analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on SRE. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.