Simon Quick Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the third quarter worth $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its holdings in Sempra by 250.0% in the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in Sempra by 225.6% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 180.4% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 35.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Down 0.0 %

SRE stock opened at $82.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average of $87.91 and a 200 day moving average of $84.05. Sempra has a twelve month low of $66.40 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The firm has a market cap of $52.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.78.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued 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). Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. 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.