Raymond James Trust N.A. Increases Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 8.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SRE. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 2.8% during the second quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $377,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in 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 raised its holdings in Sempra by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $731,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,794 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group began 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.00.

Sempra Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $94.27 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $85.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.69. Sempra has a 52-week low of $66.40 and a 52-week high of $95.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $59.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.