Mariner Investment Group LLC Makes New Investment in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Mariner Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 7,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $614,000. Sempra accounts for about 0.1% of Mariner Investment Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 6,677 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,518 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,890,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,083 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 4,031 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI lifted 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 lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Sempra from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $91.20.

Sempra Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Sempra stock traded down $0.55 during trading on Monday, reaching $82.16. 6,635,298 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,543,111. 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 has a 1-year low of $66.40 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $87.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.04 billion, a PE ratio of 18.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.78.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra's payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

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.