Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Raises Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 21.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,586 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,917 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 3.4% during the first quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 38,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,854,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 18,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,391,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Presima Securities ULC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 5,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $415,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at $1,107,357.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Sempra news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at $1,107,357.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard J. Mark bought 1,925 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $77.97 per share, with a total value of $150,092.25. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $422,597.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on SRE. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.10.

Sempra Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of SRE traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $78.55. 2,530,372 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,746,121. The firm has a market cap of $49.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.27. Sempra has a 12-month low of $63.75 and a 12-month high of $80.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 8.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 44.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 27th were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 27th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.99%.

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.