Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Purchased by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,092 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the third quarter worth $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its stake in Sempra by 250.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Down 1.6 %

SRE stock opened at $93.28 on Wednesday. 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 $95.77. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.97. The firm has a market cap of $59.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 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 analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. 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 objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.00.

About Sempra

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.