Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Financial Advisory Partners LLC

Financial Advisory Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,369 shares during the period. Sempra accounts for approximately 1.3% of Financial Advisory Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Financial Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $4,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 13,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after buying an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the third quarter worth about $210,000. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 6,054 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in Sempra by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $466,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Sempra by 6.6% in the third quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 4,284 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America began 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. Barclays lifted their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.20.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE traded up $0.09 during trading on Thursday, hitting $81.61. 291,322 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,840,224. Sempra has a 12-month low of $66.40 and a 12-month high of $84.47. The company has a market cap of $51.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $81.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.99%.

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.