Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 55.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,530 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra during the third quarter valued at about $200,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of Sempra by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,622,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $135,714,000 after purchasing an additional 347,625 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 19,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,651,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Sempra by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,625,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $303,198,000 after buying an additional 48,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra by 29.3% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 94,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,865,000 after buying an additional 21,293 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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 transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE opened at $93.28 on Wednesday. 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 $59.08 billion, a PE ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $86.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.97. Sempra has a 52-week low of $66.40 and a 52-week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued 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 net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.