Richardson Financial Services Inc. Reduces Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Richardson Financial Services Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 180 shares during the quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,123,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,026,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,917,668 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 5,279.4% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,583,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $113,591,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554,374 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in Sempra during the 1st quarter valued at $64,994,000. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its position in Sempra by 96.9% during the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,636,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $117,528,000 after purchasing an additional 805,084 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 1st quarter valued at about $42,630,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of SRE opened at $82.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.27, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.75. Sempra has a 52 week low of $63.75 and a 52 week high of $84.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $80.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 22.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Sempra from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Bank of America began coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.00.

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.