MGO One Seven LLC Acquires 9,772 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

MGO One Seven LLC increased its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 174.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,368 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,772 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC's holdings in Sempra were worth $1,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra by 265.2% during the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 8.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price 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 research note on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group cut shares of 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. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.54.

Sempra Trading Up 0.0 %

SRE stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $74.30. The company had a trading volume of 795,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,727,646. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $70.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.00. Sempra has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $48.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.37, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. Sempra's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra's payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

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.