L & S Advisors Inc Sells 5,096 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

L & S Advisors Inc trimmed its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 15.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,096 shares during the quarter. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Sempra were worth $2,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,452,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,023,228,000 after purchasing an additional 874,133 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 96.9% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,636,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $117,528,000 after purchasing an additional 805,084 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the 1st quarter worth about $27,338,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter worth about $23,056,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of 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. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. Barclays increased their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.00.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $93.12 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a 12 month low of $66.40 and a 12 month high of $93.90. The company has a market cap of $58.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

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.