Centre Asset Management LLC Grows Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Centre Asset Management LLC increased its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. Centre Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Unigestion Holding SA bought a new stake in Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth $33,023,000. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $675,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Sempra by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $286,695,000 after buying an additional 278,183 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Up 0.8 %

SRE traded up $0.69 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $87.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 337,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,305,104. Sempra has a 1 year low of $66.40 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $89.03 and its 200-day moving average is $83.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SRE. Barclays boosted their target price on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” 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. According to MarketBeat, Sempra has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.60.

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.