Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Stake Lifted by Heartland Bank & Trust Co

Heartland Bank & Trust Co increased its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Sempra were worth $423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter worth $114,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Sempra by 3.6% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Sempra by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 27,684 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,106,000 after acquiring an additional 1,463 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in Sempra by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 78,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,988,000 after acquiring an additional 11,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 855,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,080,000 after purchasing an additional 50,332 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on SRE. Bank of America started 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on Sempra from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.42.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $83.63 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $81.10 and its 200-day moving average is $76.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $52.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.75. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $63.75 and a fifty-two week high of $84.38.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 54.99%.

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.