International Assets Investment Management LLC Buys 47,193 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 6,656.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 47,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring 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.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Sempra by 99.1% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 30,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 15,080 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Sempra by 104.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 77,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,266,000 after purchasing an additional 39,634 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 131.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 5,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 2,868 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 94.4% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 2,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in Sempra during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,121,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.23.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $280,353.77. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,292,105.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Sempra news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total transaction of $360,586.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,403,888.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 18,145 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,105.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 122,432 shares of company stock valued at $8,668,035. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

Sempra stock opened at $76.18 on Friday. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $63.75 and a fifty-two week high of $78.70. The company has a market capitalization of $48.16 billion, a PE ratio of 15.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $70.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.54.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was down 44.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 51.77%.

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.