Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Has $4.01 Million Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 55,871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,015 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $4,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Sempra by 26.1% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 769.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 1,685 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 118.6% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 15,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 8,149 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in Sempra by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 5,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 2,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Sempra by 122.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 36,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,461,000 after purchasing an additional 19,889 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, Director Richard J. Mark purchased 1,925 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $77.97 per share, for a total transaction of $150,092.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,420 shares in the company, valued at $422,597.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, 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 cost of $77.97 per share, for a total transaction of $150,092.25. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $422,597.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,107,357.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH dropped their target price on Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.10.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $76.06 on Friday. Sempra has a 1 year low of $63.75 and a 1 year high of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $75.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.02. The firm has a market cap of $47.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.85, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.74.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 8.95%. The company’s revenue was down 44.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.8 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 27th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 27th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 54.93%.

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.