Quantinno Capital Management LP Grows Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 38.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,456 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Sempra were worth $2,559,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra by 55.6% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $723,000 after acquiring an additional 3,085 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 51,844 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,336,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its holdings in Sempra by 49.7% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 21,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,764,000 after buying an additional 7,000 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Sempra by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,715,058 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $227,053,000 after buying an additional 190,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,272,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $106,772,000 after buying an additional 6,796 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Trading Down 0.3 %

SRE opened at $88.55 on Wednesday. Sempra has a one year low of $66.40 and a one year high of $95.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $87.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52.

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

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the company’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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on SRE. Bank of America began coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold 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 $89.91.

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.