Maple Brown Abbott Ltd Has $62.40 Million Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Maple Brown Abbott Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 35.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 711,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 388,010 shares during the period. Sempra comprises 7.6% of Maple Brown Abbott Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd owned approximately 0.11% of Sempra worth $62,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Sempra in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its stake in shares of 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 during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in Sempra by 180.4% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 35.5% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays upped their price target on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.60.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $82.78 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $52.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.23, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a 1 year low of $66.40 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.16.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.