Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Stock Holdings Boosted by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 27.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,622,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 347,625 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.26% of Sempra worth $135,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SRE. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in Sempra by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 19,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,651,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,625,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $303,198,000 after purchasing an additional 48,512 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 29.3% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 94,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,865,000 after acquiring an additional 21,293 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Sempra by 3.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,335,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $362,564,000 after acquiring an additional 125,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in Sempra during the third quarter valued at approximately $18,131,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price 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 upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays raised their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.00.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $94.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $59.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $85.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.64. 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 has a twelve month low of $66.40 and a twelve month high of $95.29.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted 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 business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,677.10. This trade represents 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 through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.