Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Purchased by Partners Group Holding AG

Partners Group Holding AG grew its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 9.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 304,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 27,498 shares during the quarter. Sempra accounts for approximately 1.7% of Partners Group Holding AG’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Partners Group Holding AG’s holdings in Sempra were worth $25,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SRE. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,587,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,653 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in Sempra by 6.9% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,452,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,023,228,000 after buying an additional 874,133 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 3.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,335,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $362,564,000 after acquiring an additional 125,833 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,625,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $303,198,000 after acquiring an additional 48,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 2.1% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 2,404,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $182,158,000 after acquiring an additional 48,592 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the business’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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $94.75 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $85.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.86. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $60.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.75. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SRE. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.