US Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

US Asset Management LLC lessened its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 233 shares during the quarter. US Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in Sempra during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Sempra in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. SouthState Corp grew its position in shares of Sempra by 900.0% in the second quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH dropped their price target 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, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.00.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE stock opened at $82.97 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $79.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.44. Sempra has a 12-month low of $63.75 and a 12-month high of $84.28. The company has a market capitalization of $52.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.75. 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 (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 22.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.93%.

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.