Metis Global Partners LLC Raises Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 45,239 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 6,075 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC's holdings in Sempra were worth $3,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SRE. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in Sempra in the first quarter worth approximately $2,293,000. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd raised its holdings in Sempra by 319.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 196,954 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,980,000 after buying an additional 150,000 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Sempra by 40.8% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 43,050 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,092,000 after buying an additional 12,468 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Sempra by 10.0% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 135,621 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $10,315,000 after buying an additional 12,346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 171.6% during the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 10,477 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $753,000 after buying an additional 6,620 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on SRE. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America started coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.00.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE traded up $1.75 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $92.19. The company had a trading volume of 3,050,145 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,903,094. 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 has a 12-month low of $66.40 and a 12-month high of $93.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.77. The company has a market capitalization of $58.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Sempra's revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

About Sempra

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.