USA Financial Formulas Takes $1.20 Million Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 13,659 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,198,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Apella Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at about $211,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its holdings in Sempra by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 6,435 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 1,251 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Sempra by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 19,241 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,688,000 after buying an additional 1,225 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Sempra by 177.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 49,346 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,329,000 after buying an additional 31,542 shares during the period. Finally, Define Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $237,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Sempra Stock Up 1.7 %

SRE stock traded up $1.42 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $83.84. 2,093,197 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,460,436. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $88.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.73. Sempra has a 12-month low of $66.40 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.78. 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 (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Sempra from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $91.60.

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.