Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Position Trimmed by Childress Capital Advisors LLC

Childress Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 342 shares during the quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $257,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the third quarter worth $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 250.0% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in Sempra by 225.6% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in Sempra by 180.4% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SRE shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI lifted 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. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.20.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sempra Trading Down 0.3 %

Sempra stock opened at $82.67 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.41. 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.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 54.63%.

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.