Cooper Financial Group Buys 370 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Cooper Financial Group increased its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the quarter. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 132.7% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 6,575 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $577,000 after buying an additional 3,750 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in Sempra by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 137,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,047,000 after buying an additional 8,356 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 696.2% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 1,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Down 2.2 %

SRE opened at $77.00 on Tuesday. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $95.77. 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 simple moving average of $88.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.72. The company has a market capitalization of $48.77 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.78.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective 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 shares of Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.60.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.