Assetmark Inc. Increases Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 432,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,530 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. owned 0.07% of Sempra worth $37,936,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its holdings in Sempra by 250.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Sempra by 225.6% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE opened at $72.01 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $46.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $64.89 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $82.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.58. 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) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 58.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on SRE. Barclays lowered shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.54.

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.