Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 278,183 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $286,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in Sempra by 9.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,587,181,000 after buying an additional 1,582,653 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 4.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,774,974,000 after buying an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 6.9% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,452,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,023,228,000 after acquiring an additional 874,133 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in Sempra by 201.2% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,882,000 after acquiring an additional 414,406 shares during the period. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new position in Sempra in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,023,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $87.77 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.04. 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 twelve month low of $66.40 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.33, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SRE shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.60.

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.