Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Sells 7,302 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 13.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 48,175 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,302 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $4,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its position in Sempra by 250.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra by 225.6% in the fourth 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 grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 180.4% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 35.5% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE SRE opened at $83.11 on Thursday. Sempra has a 12 month low of $66.40 and a 12 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $88.85 and a 200-day moving average of $83.73. The company has a market cap of $52.64 billion, a PE ratio of 18.31, a PEG ratio of 2.00 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 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.