Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Decreases Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,209,506 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 46,229 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Sempra were worth $320,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. SouthState Corp lifted its holdings in Sempra by 900.0% during the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra during the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Sempra from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut their target price on Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Sempra from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.00.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $83.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.93 billion, a PE ratio of 18.52, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 $79.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.60. 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 issued 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). The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The business’s revenue was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.93%.

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.