Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Reduces Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 27.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,917 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SRE. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 9.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,587,181,000 after buying an additional 1,582,653 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,539,026 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at about $123,614,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Sempra by 201.2% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,882,000 after purchasing an additional 414,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in Sempra during the third quarter worth about $33,023,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sempra Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE SRE opened at $71.06 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. Sempra has a one year low of $64.89 and a one year high of $95.77. The firm has a market cap of $46.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.65, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SRE shares. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Argus cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

Sempra Company 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.