Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Purchased by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 89,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 899 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $6,792,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Sempra by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 38,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,854,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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 price target on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.00.

Sempra Stock Down 1.2 %

Sempra stock opened at $83.02 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.46. Sempra has a one year low of $63.75 and a one year high of $84.38.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.01 billion for 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 revenue was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.93%.

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.