Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Acquired by Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP

Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 34.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,020,769 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 264,064 shares during the quarter. Sempra makes up 2.2% of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP owned 0.16% of Sempra worth $85,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Sempra during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in Sempra in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $89.00.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $92.92. The company had a trading volume of 2,465,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,901,137. Sempra has a 1 year low of $66.40 and a 1 year high of $93.21. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $84.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.16. 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 stock has a market cap of $58.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. The business's revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra's payout ratio is 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.