Brookmont Capital Management Reduces Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Brookmont Capital Management lessened its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 371 shares during the period. Brookmont Capital Management’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its holdings in Sempra by 250.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 180.4% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in Sempra by 35.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE SRE opened at $85.24 on Tuesday. Sempra has a 12 month low of $66.40 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $88.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.92. The stock has a market cap of $53.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its 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 the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SRE. Morgan Stanley raised Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI upped 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.60.

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.