Jeppson Wealth Management LLC Has $1.83 Million Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Jeppson Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 160 shares during the period. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Sempra in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its stake in Sempra by 250.0% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Sempra by 225.6% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in Sempra by 180.4% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in Sempra by 35.5% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Price Performance

Sempra stock opened at $82.16 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $52.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $87.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.22. Sempra has a 1 year low of $66.40 and a 1 year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.20.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were 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 $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently 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.