Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 20.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,587 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $4,289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 5,279.4% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,583,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $113,591,000 after buying an additional 1,554,374 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in Sempra in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $64,994,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,452,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,023,228,000 after purchasing an additional 874,133 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its holdings in Sempra by 96.9% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,636,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $117,528,000 after purchasing an additional 805,084 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Sempra in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $42,630,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of SRE opened at $83.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $83.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $52.90 billion, a PE ratio of 17.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.75. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $66.40 and a fifty-two week high of $86.57.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The company’s revenue was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.78 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SRE shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.55.

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.