Summit Global Investments Buys New Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Summit Global Investments purchased a new position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 32,089 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,684,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the first quarter worth $815,000. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Sempra in the 1st quarter worth $2,293,000. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its position in Sempra by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 117,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,418,000 after buying an additional 14,100 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 249.9% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 155,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,195,000 after acquiring an additional 111,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 319.5% during the second quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 196,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,980,000 after acquiring an additional 150,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.00.

Sempra Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $89.76 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $83.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.46. Sempra has a 1-year low of $66.40 and a 1-year high of $90.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The business’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.99%.

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.