Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 14.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,111 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,193 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its stake in Sempra by 250.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in Sempra by 225.6% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 180.4% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 35.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $85.24 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $88.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $53.99 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a 1 year low of $66.40 and a 1 year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

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

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.