Greenwich Wealth Management LLC Buys New Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Greenwich Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Sempra by 2.8% in the second quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $731,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Sempra by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,794 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE opened at $81.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.70 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $83.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.68. Sempra has a 52-week low of $66.40 and a 52-week high of $86.57.

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 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 firm had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. 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 research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.55.

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.