Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Cuts Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 29,664 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 665 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Sempra were worth $2,256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. SouthState Corp increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sempra during the second quarter worth $39,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.58.

Sempra Stock Up 0.4 %

SRE stock opened at $83.93 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $81.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.57. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $52.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.61, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.75. Sempra has a one year low of $63.75 and a one year high of $84.47.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.03). Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. 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.