International Assets Investment Management LLC Increases Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 6,656.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 47,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 47,193 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $3,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 6,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $501,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $314,000. Howland Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $217,000. Patten & Patten Inc. TN grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 3,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 201,520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,060,000 after acquiring an additional 29,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on Sempra in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.50 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $67.94 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $42.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.71. Sempra has a 12 month low of $63.75 and a 12 month high of $79.51. The business’s 50-day moving average is $70.41 and its 200 day moving average is $71.51.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.77%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total value of $360,586.86. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,403,888.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total value of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 18,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total value of $360,586.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,403,888.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 156,622 shares of company stock valued at $11,089,713. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sempra Company 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.