Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Makes New $201,000 Investment in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in 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 buying an additional 1,582,653 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,452,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,023,228,000 after purchasing an additional 874,133 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 38.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,420,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $118,219,000 after purchasing an additional 393,277 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 27.3% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,622,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $135,714,000 after buying an additional 347,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in Sempra in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $23,056,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $93.67 on Friday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $86.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.31. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $59.33 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm’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 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. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Sempra

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.