Patten Group Inc. Sells 922 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Patten Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 922 shares during the quarter. Patten Group Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SRE. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 1st quarter valued at about $815,000. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Sempra in the first quarter worth approximately $2,293,000. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its holdings in Sempra by 13.7% during the first quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 117,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,418,000 after buying an additional 14,100 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd boosted its position in Sempra by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 2,891,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $207,662,000 after acquiring an additional 133,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 249.9% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 155,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,195,000 after acquiring an additional 111,314 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Price Performance

Sempra stock opened at $81.33 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.38, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.75. Sempra has a 52-week low of $66.40 and a 52-week high of $84.47.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

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 given 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 3.05%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on SRE shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America started coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Barclays upped 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.20.

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.