Clearbridge Investments LLC Increases Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 6.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,452,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 874,133 shares during the period. Sempra makes up 0.8% of Clearbridge Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 2.13% of Sempra worth $1,023,228,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. SouthState Corp grew its position in shares of Sempra by 900.0% in the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Up 0.5 %

SRE stock opened at $83.63 on Tuesday. Sempra has a one year low of $63.75 and a one year high of $84.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.70 billion, a PE ratio of 18.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.46. The company has a fifty day moving average of $81.10 and a 200-day moving average of $76.47.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.03). Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect 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 $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SRE. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.42.

Sempra Company 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.