Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Buys 300 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 6.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec’s holdings in Sempra were worth $442,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Sempra in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America began coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of 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 note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Finally, 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. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.91.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $92.00 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.53. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $58.27 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 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 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). The business 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 revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

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.