Advisor Resource Council Has $2.08 Million Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Advisor Resource Council boosted its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,867 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the period. Sempra accounts for 0.9% of Advisor Resource Council’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Advisor Resource Council’s holdings in Sempra were worth $2,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SRE. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,452,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,023,228,000 after buying an additional 874,133 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of Sempra by 2.1% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 2,404,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $182,158,000 after acquiring an additional 48,592 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Sempra by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,757,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $133,679,000 after purchasing an additional 289,731 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,659,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,246,000 after purchasing an additional 26,862 shares during the period. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 96.9% in the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,636,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $117,528,000 after buying an additional 805,084 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Up 7.3 %

SRE stock opened at $88.26 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $55.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.75. Sempra has a 12-month low of $66.40 and a 12-month high of $88.59. The business’s 50-day moving average is $83.26 and its 200 day moving average is $79.00. 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 posted 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 52.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI upped 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.55.

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.