Czech National Bank Buys 8,384 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 7.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 128,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,384 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Sempra were worth $10,786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 9.8% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 7,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $601,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the second quarter valued at approximately $199,000. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the second quarter valued at approximately $523,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the second quarter valued at approximately $11,892,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 6.9% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,452,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,023,228,000 after buying an additional 874,133 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE stock traded up $0.07 on Friday, hitting $82.60. 1,388,396 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,862,941. The firm has a market cap of $52.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.31, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.75. Sempra has a 52 week low of $64.29 and a 52 week high of $84.47. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.74. 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 (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 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 business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be paid 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 3.00%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on SRE. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. 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 target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.27.

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.