Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 28.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 86,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,268 shares during the quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $7,578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Sempra by 173.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 209,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,952,000 after purchasing an additional 133,085 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 6.3% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 855,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,080,000 after buying an additional 50,332 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in Sempra by 16.8% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 78,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,988,000 after purchasing an additional 11,303 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Sempra by 5.6% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 27,684 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Sempra by 3.6% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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 dated 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $82.28 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a 1-year low of $66.40 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $87.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.22.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.20.

Sempra 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.