334 Shares in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Bought by Eastern Bank

Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $28,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 2.8% in the second quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 2.8% in the second quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 3.5% in the second quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 4.0% in the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,794 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Finally, Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich lifted its holdings in Sempra by 1.2% in the second quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 12,558 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Down 1.6 %

SRE opened at $84.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.41. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $66.40 and a fifty-two week high of $86.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s 50-day moving average is $82.90 and its 200 day moving average is $78.12.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its 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). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 22.31%. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on SRE. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.55.

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.