Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Bought by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,407,666 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 45,884 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.38% of Sempra worth $201,352,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 9.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,587,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,653 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Sempra by 4.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,774,974,000 after buying an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 6.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 874,133 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Sempra by 201.2% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,394 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $51,882,000 after acquiring an additional 414,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in Sempra by 38.3% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,420,045 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $118,219,000 after purchasing an additional 393,277 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $2,207,443.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Sempra from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $91.20.

Sempra Trading Down 0.2 %

SRE traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $81.99. 2,187,184 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,350,777. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $87.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.93 billion, a PE ratio of 18.03, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.78. 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 52-week low of $66.40 and a 52-week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 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 in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

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

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.