Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Buys New Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Sempra during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its position in Sempra by 250.0% in the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Price Performance

Sempra stock opened at $93.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $86.75 and a 200-day moving average of $81.31. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company’s 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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the business’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 owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SRE shares. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.00.

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.