SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda Has $12.94 Million Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda grew its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 91.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 154,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 73,884 shares during the period. Sempra makes up about 1.7% of SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda’s holdings in Sempra were worth $12,943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Unigestion Holding SA bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,023,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 135,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,315,000 after purchasing an additional 12,346 shares in the last quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd increased its holdings in Sempra by 319.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 196,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,980,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. increased its holdings in Sempra by 28.2% during the 2nd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 67,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,154,000 after purchasing an additional 14,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 6,709 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

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 transaction, the vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday. Bank of America assumed coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective 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 report on Monday, December 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.60.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE traded up $1.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $89.36. The stock had a trading volume of 383,583 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,922,258. Sempra has a twelve month low of $66.40 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $56.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.37, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.