SageView Advisory Group LLC Has $5.07 Million Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,222 shares during the quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $5,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Sempra by 101.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,117,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,225,884,000 after purchasing an additional 31,334,782 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth about $958,253,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Sempra by 101.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,206,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,646,750,000 after purchasing an additional 12,184,568 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 147.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,360,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $976,926,000 after purchasing an additional 8,546,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 109.0% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 12,154,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $826,855,000 after purchasing an additional 6,338,545 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $75.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 674,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,001,043. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.62. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $63.75 and a fifty-two week high of $78.83. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $73.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.82. The company has a market cap of $47.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 8.95%. The business’s revenue was down 44.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 27th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 27th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.93%.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other news, Director Richard J. Mark acquired 1,925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $77.97 per share, with a total value of $150,092.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $422,597.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut their target price on shares of Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.00.

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.