MML Investors Services LLC Buys 2,156 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 4.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 47,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,156 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $3,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd grew its position in shares of Sempra by 319.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 196,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,980,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. grew its position in Sempra by 28.2% during the second quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 67,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,154,000 after buying an additional 14,890 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Sempra by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 357,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,865,000 after acquiring an additional 6,709 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 107,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,015,000 after acquiring an additional 7,198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 45,239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,783,000 after acquiring an additional 6,075 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $89.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Sempra has a one year low of $66.40 and a one year high of $95.77. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.77.

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). The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on SRE. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. 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, Sempra has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.60.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.