Eventide Asset Management LLC Buys 37,208 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Eventide Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 47.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 116,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,208 shares during the period. Eventide Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $9,708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its holdings in Sempra by 250.0% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Sempra in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra during the second quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America began coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.00.

Sempra Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $93.77 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.75. Sempra has a 12-month low of $66.40 and a 12-month high of $95.77. 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) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Sempra’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 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 directly owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.