Caprock Group LLC Invests $3.56 Million in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 42,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,559,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Sempra in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its stake in Sempra by 250.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Sempra during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in Sempra during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.00.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $93.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.30. Sempra has a 1 year low of $66.40 and a 1 year high of $93.44.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

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.