Cresset Asset Management LLC Has $523,000 Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Cresset Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 82.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 28,468 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $523,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Sempra by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,018,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,527,944,000 after buying an additional 490,269 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Sempra by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,369,076,000 after purchasing an additional 4,082,261 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Sempra by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,797,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511,313 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $1,535,000,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Sempra by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,072,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,143,248,000 after purchasing an additional 311,094 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE opened at $74.89 on Thursday. Sempra has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.77. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. Sempra’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 56.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays lowered shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Sempra from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, Director Michael N. Mears acquired 1,000 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $67.70 per share, with a total value of $67,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $338,500. The trade was a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $595,193.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,260,117.94. The trade was a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.