395,055 Shares in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Purchased by Unigestion Holding SA

Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 395,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $33,023,000. Sempra accounts for 1.6% of Unigestion Holding SA's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Unigestion Holding SA owned about 0.06% of Sempra at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 2.8% during the second quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,963 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 period. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich increased its stake in Sempra by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 12,558 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $955,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. raised its holdings in Sempra by 3.8% during the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,184 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other 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 transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE:SRE traded down $1.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $87.41. 3,987,251 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,927,613. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.77. The firm's fifty day moving average is $87.76 and its 200-day moving average is $81.98. Sempra has a 12-month low of $66.40 and a 12-month 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.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). The firm 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%. Sempra's revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra's payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SRE. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One research 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, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.91.

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.