Vision Capital Management Inc. Takes Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Vision Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,374 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Sempra by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 65,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,702,000 after acquiring an additional 13,509 shares during the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY increased its stake in Sempra by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 13,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in Sempra by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 30,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,683,000 after acquiring an additional 10,350 shares during the last quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC increased its stake in Sempra by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 14,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,235,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in Sempra by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,029 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE stock opened at $82.30 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $52.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.13, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a 12-month low of $66.40 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.47.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 period last year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. 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 research note on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.20.

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.