NorthRock Partners LLC Takes $589,000 Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

NorthRock Partners LLC bought a new position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,715 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $589,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Sempra by 633.4% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. L & S Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Sempra by 52.6% in the 4th quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 41,601 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,649,000 after purchasing an additional 14,338 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Sempra by 8.8% in 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 period. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Sempra by 2.6% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in Sempra by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 9,479 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $831,000 after buying an additional 990 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE:SRE traded up $0.80 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $78.41. The company had a trading volume of 4,004,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,741,345. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $71.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.19. Sempra has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.12 billion, a PE ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were bought 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 approximately $618,823.35. This trade represents a 8.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $595,193.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 16,969 shares in the company, valued at $1,260,117.94. The trade was a 32.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on SRE shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. 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. Citigroup lowered their price target on Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Argus downgraded Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.77.

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.