Citigroup Inc. Has $135.71 Million Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,622,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 347,625 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $135,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SRE. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted 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 valued at $1,023,228,000 after buying an additional 874,133 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP increased its holdings in Sempra by 96.9% during 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. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Sempra in the 1st quarter valued at $27,338,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in Sempra in the second quarter worth $23,056,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 19.7% during 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 last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $94.27 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $85.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.75. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $95.29.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SRE. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.00.

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.