A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 435 shares during the period. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new position in Sempra in the third quarter valued at about $33,023,000. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd raised its holdings in Sempra by 319.5% in the second quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 196,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,980,000 after acquiring an additional 150,000 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Sempra by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $286,695,000 after acquiring an additional 278,183 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Sempra by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 357,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,865,000 after acquiring an additional 6,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth about $675,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Sempra

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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Bank of America started coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.60.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE traded down $3.68 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $79.14. The stock had a trading volume of 1,992,321 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,424,706. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $89.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.58. The company has a market capitalization of $50.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week 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.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. Sempra’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.63%.

Sempra 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.