World Investment Advisors LLC Invests $6.03 Million in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 72,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,029,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Unigestion Holding SA bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the third quarter worth about $33,023,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 10.0% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 135,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,315,000 after purchasing an additional 12,346 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd grew its stake in Sempra by 319.5% in the second 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 during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $29,865,000 after purchasing an additional 6,709 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.30.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $87.93 on Friday. Sempra has a 12-month low of $66.40 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Sempra

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.