Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 17,974 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 159,975 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 17,974 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Sempra were worth $14,033,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 8.8% in the third 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 period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Sempra by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,165 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,880,000. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its position in Sempra by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 125,700 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $11,026,000 after purchasing an additional 5,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 10,795 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $947,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Sempra Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE SRE traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $78.00. 2,756,363 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,761,814. The company has a market cap of $50.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.18, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $73.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.47. Sempra has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week 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.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is 56.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup decreased 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. 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 report on Wednesday, March 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of 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 note on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Argus downgraded Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $595,193.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,260,117.94. The trade was a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael N. Mears bought 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $67.70 per share, for a total transaction of $67,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $338,500. This represents a 25.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

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.