Versant Capital Management Inc Buys 561 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 126.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Sempra were worth $88,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 2.8% during the second quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Sempra by 1.6% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $731,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,890,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its position in shares of Sempra by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 4,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Sempra

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 shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $87.67 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $55.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $66.40 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.60.

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.