Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Stock Holdings Lowered by Alpha Cubed Investments LLC

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC cut its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 948 shares during the quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 0.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,324,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,870,591,000 after purchasing an additional 128,847 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,774,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Sempra by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,587,181,000 after buying an additional 1,582,653 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 6.9% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,452,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,023,228,000 after purchasing an additional 874,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,761,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,063,007,000 after purchasing an additional 145,873 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $85.24 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $88.36 and a 200-day moving average of $83.99.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SRE. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.60.

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.