Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Stock Holdings Boosted by Brown Advisory Inc.

Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 11.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $421,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SRE. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 72.1% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after acquiring an additional 2,808 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its stake in Sempra by 110.3% during the third quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 4,140 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 2,171 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Sempra by 124.5% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 3,456 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake in Sempra by 106.7% during the third quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 14,989 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,020,000 after buying an additional 7,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Sempra by 97.5% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 740,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,349,000 after buying an additional 365,337 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total value of $4,063,936.89. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Richard J. Mark bought 1,925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $77.97 per share, with a total value of $150,092.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $422,597.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total value of $4,063,936.89. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 122,432 shares of company stock worth $8,668,035. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE:SRE opened at $75.84 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $72.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.46. Sempra has a 52 week low of $63.75 and a 52 week high of $78.83. The company has a market capitalization of $48.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.62.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.95% and a net margin of 20.99%. The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 44.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 27th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 27th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.86.

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.