GAMMA Investing LLC Invests $325,000 in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 4,539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. PrairieView Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra by 100.0% in the third quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra by 100.0% in the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Sempra by 100.0% in the third quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC grew its position in Sempra by 100.0% during the third quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.50 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total transaction of $360,586.86. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,712 shares in the company, valued at $1,403,888.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total value of $360,586.86. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,403,888.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 156,622 shares of company stock worth $11,089,713. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $72.04 on Thursday. Sempra has a 1 year low of $63.75 and a 1 year high of $79.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.66.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. Sempra’s payout ratio is 51.77%.

Sempra 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.