Verition Fund Management LLC Sells 828,678 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Verition Fund Management LLC cut its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 69.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 372,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 828,678 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $31,118,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the second quarter worth $30,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its holdings in Sempra by 250.0% in the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Up 1.1 %

SRE stock opened at $94.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Sempra has a 1-year low of $66.40 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.16. The company has a market capitalization of $59.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. Sempra’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of 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 Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.00.

Sempra 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.