Fortem Financial Group LLC Buys 184 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Fortem Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Fortem Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,324,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,870,591,000 after acquiring an additional 128,847 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 4.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,774,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,026 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 9.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,587,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,653 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 6.9% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,452,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,023,228,000 after buying an additional 874,133 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Sempra by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,761,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,063,007,000 after buying an additional 145,873 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of Sempra stock traded down $3.25 during trading on Monday, reaching $84.42. 1,560,281 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,194,267. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.47 billion, a PE ratio of 18.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $89.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.47. Sempra has a 1-year low of $66.40 and a 1-year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company 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 earned $1.08 EPS. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America began coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.