International Assets Investment Management LLC Grows Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 8,093.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 52,520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,879 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $4,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in Sempra by 6.9% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,452,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,023,228,000 after acquiring an additional 874,133 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in shares of Sempra by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 2,404,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $182,158,000 after purchasing an additional 48,592 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Sempra by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,757,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $133,679,000 after buying an additional 289,731 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Sempra by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,659,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,246,000 after buying an additional 26,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP increased its stake in Sempra by 96.9% during the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,636,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $117,528,000 after buying an additional 805,084 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $81.65 on Friday. Sempra has a one year low of $66.40 and a one year high of $86.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $83.14 and its 200-day moving average is $78.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.03). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 22.31%. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.78 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 52.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.55.

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.