Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Stake Lessened by Iams Wealth Management LLC

Iams Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 489 shares during the quarter. Iams Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $789,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 0.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,324,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,870,591,000 after purchasing an additional 128,847 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,774,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,026 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Sempra by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,587,181,000 after buying an additional 1,582,653 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 6.9% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,452,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,023,228,000 after acquiring an additional 874,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Sempra by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,761,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,063,007,000 after acquiring an additional 145,873 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on SRE. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.20.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $82.48 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.28. Sempra has a 1-year low of $66.40 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.24 billion, a PE ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.78.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced 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). Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm’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 owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.