Brookmont Capital Management Sells 371 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Brookmont Capital Management trimmed its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 371 shares during the quarter. Brookmont Capital Management’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,554,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in Sempra by 7.4% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 15,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,198,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Sempra by 41.0% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 2,136 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its stake in Sempra by 21.0% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 112,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,568,000 after purchasing an additional 19,575 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC grew its stake in Sempra by 48.8% during the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 34,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,658,000 after purchasing an additional 11,458 shares during the period. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its stake in Sempra by 20,483.3% during the second quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 4,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 4,916 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on 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 began coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $85.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $53.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a 12-month low of $66.40 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The business’s 50 day moving average is $88.50 and its 200 day moving average is $83.92.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.63%.

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.