Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 8,070 Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 8,070 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $675,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Sempra by 1.6% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $731,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Sempra by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,794 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich boosted its position in Sempra by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 12,558 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $955,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Conning Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 3.8% in the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,184 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $87.41 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $55.37 billion, a PE ratio of 19.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $87.76 and a 200-day moving average of $81.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Sempra has a one year low of $66.40 and a one year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 value 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.91.

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.