Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Grows Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 144,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,230 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $12,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,294,000 after buying an additional 1,436 shares during the period. Fortem Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 5,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 21,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,877,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Centre Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC now owns 4,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,170,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on SRE. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays raised their target price on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.60.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Down 4.7 %

Sempra stock opened at $78.92 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $49.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.38, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.71. Sempra has a 12 month low of $66.40 and a 12 month 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) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.63%.

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.