Jennison Associates LLC Purchases 63,000 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 3.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,840,876 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 63,000 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.29% of Sempra worth $153,952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SRE shares. 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 note on Wednesday, September 25th. 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. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.00.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $93.27. The stock had a trading volume of 1,162,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,893,412. The firm has a market cap of $59.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.75. Sempra has a 12 month low of $66.40 and a 12 month high of $93.87. The business has a fifty day moving average of $84.94 and a 200 day moving average of $80.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52.

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 net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Sempra's revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.