Prudent Man Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Prudent Man Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,675 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,773 shares during the quarter. Prudent Man Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 250.0% during the third 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 last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on SRE. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America started coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.00.

Sempra Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of SRE opened at $92.19 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $58.39 billion, a PE ratio of 20.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.75. Sempra has a 52-week low of $66.40 and a 52-week high of $93.12.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). The business 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 company’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

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