Mather Group LLC. Makes New $55,000 Investment in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $55,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Sempra by 101.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,117,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,225,884,000 after purchasing an additional 31,334,782 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Sempra by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,123,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,026,969,000 after acquiring an additional 2,917,668 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at about $958,253,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in Sempra by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 12,344,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $922,539,000 after purchasing an additional 190,688 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 101.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,334,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $703,034,000 after purchasing an additional 5,197,328 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE SRE opened at $75.27 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $74.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.92. Sempra has a 12 month low of $63.75 and a 12 month high of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $47.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.74.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.95% and a net margin of 20.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 44.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 27th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 27th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.00.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, Director Richard J. Mark acquired 1,925 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $77.97 per share, with a total value of $150,092.25. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $422,597.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Richard J. Mark bought 1,925 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $77.97 per share, for a total transaction of $150,092.25. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $422,597.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $457,927.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by 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.