Benjamin Edwards Inc. Acquires 221 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 221 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Sempra during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra in the second quarter worth $34,000. SouthState Corp increased its position in Sempra by 900.0% in the second quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of SRE opened at $83.18 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $80.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.92. Sempra has a twelve month low of $63.75 and a twelve month high of $84.29. The stock has a market cap of $52.42 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of several research reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut their price target on Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. 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 $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.00.

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.