Hennessy Advisors Inc. Has $24.53 Million Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 279,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 800 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $24,525,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Sempra by 1.6% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $731,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 6,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $586,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra by 0.3% in the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,890,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its holdings in Sempra by 5.5% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in Sempra by 4.2% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 4,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $84.03 on Friday. 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 quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $88.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.72. The company has a market capitalization of $53.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.78.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were 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 $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.60.

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.