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

Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 18,772 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,647,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra by 633.4% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,624,000 after purchasing an additional 25,838 shares in the last quarter. L & S Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 52.6% during the fourth quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 41,601 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,649,000 after buying an additional 14,338 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $286,695,000 after buying an additional 278,183 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 2.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 9,479 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $831,000 after buying an additional 990 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, Director Pablo Ferrero bought 2,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,110,453.04. The trade was a 19.92% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 8,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE SRE traded up $1.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $78.85. 2,903,012 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,751,467. The company has a market capitalization of $51.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $72.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.85. Sempra has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $95.77. 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 (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. Sempra's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 26th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group lowered shares of 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 research note on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Six equities 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 presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.62.

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.