Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Buys New Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 54,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,900,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 195.1% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 419 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the 1st quarter worth about $43,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Sempra from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered their price objective on Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.10.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE traded down $0.77 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $76.28. The stock had a trading volume of 911,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,984,960. Sempra has a 1 year low of $63.75 and a 1 year high of $78.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $75.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.09. The company has a market cap of $48.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.74.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 8.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 44.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. Research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 27th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.93%.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, Director Richard J. Mark bought 1,925 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $77.97 per share, for a total transaction of $150,092.25. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $422,597.40. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard J. Mark bought 1,925 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $77.97 per share, with a total value of $150,092.25. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $422,597.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.