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

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 420.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,570 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crestline Management LP lifted its holdings in Sempra by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 119,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,906,000 after acquiring an additional 14,674 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Sempra in the first quarter valued at approximately $815,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in Sempra by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 41,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,079,000 after acquiring an additional 5,197 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Sempra in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,293,000. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden lifted its stake in Sempra by 13.7% during the first quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 117,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,418,000 after purchasing an additional 14,100 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on SRE. Bank of America began coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on Sempra from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH decreased their price target on Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.00.

Sempra Stock Down 1.2 %

Sempra stock opened at $82.94 on Thursday. Sempra has a twelve month low of $63.75 and a twelve month high of $84.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.93%.

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.