Eventide Asset Management LLC Acquires 37,208 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Eventide Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 47.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 116,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,208 shares during the period. Eventide Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $9,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 2.8% in the second quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 3.5% during the second quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $731,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,794 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the company’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 $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of SRE opened at $93.77 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.27. Sempra has a 1 year low of $66.40 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65, 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 current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its 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). 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 last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.63%.

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.