LPL Financial LLC Has $38.36 Million Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 7.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 504,363 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,457 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.08% of Sempra worth $38,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crestline Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 119,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,906,000 after acquiring an additional 14,674 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 1st quarter worth about $815,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 41,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,079,000 after acquiring an additional 5,197 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 1st quarter worth about $2,293,000. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 117,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,418,000 after acquiring an additional 14,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Up 1.6 %

SRE opened at $82.97 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $79.69 and a 200 day moving average of $75.51. The company has a market cap of $52.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.75. Sempra has a 12 month low of $63.75 and a 12 month high of $84.28. 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 released 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). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 22.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.00.

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.