Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Bought by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 173.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 209,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 133,085 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $15,952,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SRE. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Sempra by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,123,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,026,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,917,668 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Sempra by 1.9% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 12,578,779 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $903,534,000 after buying an additional 233,819 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd lifted its holdings in Sempra by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 2,891,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $207,662,000 after buying an additional 133,119 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Sempra by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,629,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $196,466,000 after acquiring an additional 116,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 2,404,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $182,158,000 after acquiring an additional 48,592 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $83.93 on Wednesday. Sempra has a 12-month low of $63.75 and a 12-month high of $84.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.57.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.03). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 22.31%. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SRE. Bank of America initiated coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sempra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.58.

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.