Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Maple Brown Abbott Ltd

Maple Brown Abbott Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,099,330 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 136,700 shares during the period. Sempra makes up approximately 9.1% of Maple Brown Abbott Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd owned 0.17% of Sempra worth $91,937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SRE. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Sempra during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Sempra during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Sempra during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. SouthState Corp increased its stake in Sempra by 900.0% during the second quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the period. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Sempra during the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

SRE stock opened at $83.38 on Thursday. Sempra has a twelve month low of $63.75 and a twelve month high of $84.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $52.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s fifty day moving average is $81.31 and its 200-day moving average is $76.62.

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

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. Bank of America started coverage on 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 upped their price objective on Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.58.

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.