Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Stock Holdings Increased by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 8.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 92,811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,290 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $7,762,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Sempra in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 250.0% in the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.00.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $94.75 on Tuesday. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $66.40 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $85.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.86. The firm has a market cap of $60.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sempra Company 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.