Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Stock Position Raised by Mutual Advisors LLC

Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 364 shares during the quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its position in Sempra by 250.0% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Sempra by 225.6% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 180.4% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 35.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.60.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $82.78 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $52.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.23, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a one year low of $66.40 and a one year high of $95.77. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $87.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.05. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 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 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 for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 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.