Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Buys 125,833 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,335,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 125,833 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.68% of Sempra worth $362,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in Sempra by 6.9% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,452,912 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,023,228,000 after purchasing an additional 874,133 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP increased its position in Sempra by 96.9% in the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,636,202 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $117,528,000 after purchasing an additional 805,084 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Sempra in the first quarter worth about $27,338,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in Sempra in the second quarter worth about $23,056,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Sempra by 19.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,757,553 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $133,679,000 after purchasing an additional 289,731 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on SRE shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.00.

Sempra Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SRE traded down $0.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $94.27. 2,515,737 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,895,430. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $95.29. 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 company has a market cap of $59.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $85.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.64.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra's payout ratio is 54.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.