International Assets Investment Management LLC Has $3.58 Million Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 6,656.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,193 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $3,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 842.9% during the second quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the third quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the third quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 380 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Sempra by 119.9% during the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SRE. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.50 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Sempra Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $67.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.54. Sempra has a 52 week low of $63.75 and a 52 week high of $79.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $70.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.71.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. Sempra’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 51.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 18,145 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,105.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Sempra news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total value of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 18,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 34,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $2,421,677.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 156,622 shares of company stock worth $11,089,713. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.