Vicus Capital Sells 271 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Vicus Capital decreased its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 6.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,924 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 271 shares during the quarter. Vicus Capital’s holdings in Sempra were worth $298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 316.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after buying an additional 11,637 shares in the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter valued at about $413,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 46,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter valued at about $207,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $81.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 314,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,953,933. The company has a 50 day moving average of $77.45 and a 200 day moving average of $74.09. The stock has a market cap of $51.12 billion, a PE ratio of 17.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Sempra has a 12-month low of $63.75 and a 12-month high of $83.68.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.03). Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on SRE. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.00.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at $1,107,357.57. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company 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.