Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Holdings Boosted by Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,243 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $3,586,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SRE. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Sempra by 0.4% in 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 buying an additional 128,847 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Sempra by 4.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,774,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,539,026 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,582,653 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,452,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,023,228,000 after purchasing an additional 874,133 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Sempra by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,761,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,063,007,000 after purchasing an additional 145,873 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $82.78 on Monday. Sempra has a twelve month low of $66.40 and a twelve month high of $95.77. 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 50-day moving average of $87.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.16. The company has a market capitalization of $52.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.23, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.78.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). The business 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays increased their price target on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price 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, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.60.

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.