Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Purchased by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,519 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 467 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 250.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Up 1.9 %

SRE opened at $92.19 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $93.12. The business’s 50 day moving average is $84.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.91. The firm has a market cap of $58.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its 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). The business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.