JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 278,183 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 8.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 278,183 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.54% of Sempra worth $286,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $731,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,083 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 4,031 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Sempra Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:SRE traded down $0.42 on Monday, hitting $87.35. 4,381,326 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,957,896. The company has a market cap of $55.33 billion, a PE ratio of 19.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.77. Sempra has a 1 year low of $66.40 and a 1 year 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $88.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.12.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SRE. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $91.60.

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.