Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Acquires New Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,070 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $675,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its stake in Sempra by 250.0% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI increased 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. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.91.

Sempra Stock Up 0.4 %

SRE stock traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $87.74. 1,968,432 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,923,380. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $87.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.02. Sempra has a 12-month low of $66.40 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.77. 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 issued its quarterly 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 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 the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.63%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.