Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Takes Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 1,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $131,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Sempra during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in Sempra in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. SouthState Corp lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 900.0% in the second 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 bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE SRE opened at $84.93 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $53.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average of $82.41 and a 200-day moving average of $77.81. Sempra has a 1-year low of $66.40 and a 1-year high of $86.13.

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

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America started coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. 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 report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.50.

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.