Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Acquired by Ballentine Partners LLC

Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $406,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. FMR LLC increased its position in Sempra by 9.1% during the third 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. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,774,974,000 after buying an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 6.9% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Sempra by 201.2% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,882,000 after buying an additional 414,406 shares during the period. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new position in Sempra in the third quarter valued at $33,023,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Stock Performance

Sempra stock opened at $82.88 on Friday. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $52.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $88.06 and a 200-day moving average of $84.05.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. Sempra’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on SRE shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI upped their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.60.

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.