18,772 Shares in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Bought by Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC

Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 18,772 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,647,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,109,000. GTS Securities LLC raised its stake in Sempra by 292.4% during the 4th quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 3,895 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 5,919 shares in the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth $71,000. Vise Technologies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 77.8% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 4,937 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 2,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at $3,263,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Argus cut shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Sempra and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.62.

Sempra Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE SRE traded up $0.32 on Thursday, hitting $77.82. 674,588 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,735,819. The company's 50-day moving average price is $72.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Sempra has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $50.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.90 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 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be given a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Pablo Ferrero bought 2,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $70.96 per share, for a total transaction of $184,496.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,453.04. This represents a 19.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner purchased 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at $618,823.35. The trade was a 8.69% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.