Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Makes New $200,000 Investment in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,622,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $135,714,000 after purchasing an additional 347,625 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its stake in Sempra by 8.8% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 19,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,651,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Sempra by 1.4% in the third 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 period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Sempra by 29.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 94,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,865,000 after acquiring an additional 21,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,335,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $362,564,000 after acquiring an additional 125,833 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.00.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sempra Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of SRE opened at $94.27 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $85.66 and its 200 day moving average is $80.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a 12-month low of $66.40 and a 12-month high of $95.29. The company has a market capitalization of $59.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.75.

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 the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.63%.

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.