Signal Advisors Wealth LLC Makes New Investment in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Signal Advisors Wealth LLC bought a new position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 5,233 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $373,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 8.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $286,695,000 after purchasing an additional 278,183 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at $29,880,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in Sempra by 43.5% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 709 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Sempra by 39.1% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,029 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its position in shares of Sempra by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 30,585 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,683,000 after acquiring an additional 10,350 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SRE. Barclays downgraded Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group cut Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.75.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $76.01. 1,652,121 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,774,809. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.72, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.64. Sempra has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $73.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.74.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, Director Pablo Ferrero bought 2,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $70.96 per share, for a total transaction of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,110,453.04. This trade represents a 19.92% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $343,114.91. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,408,786.94. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by 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.