2,450 Shares in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Purchased by Grimes & Company Inc.

Grimes & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the 1st quarter worth approximately $815,000. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 1st quarter valued at $2,293,000. Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in Sempra by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 117,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,418,000 after purchasing an additional 14,100 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 249.9% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 155,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,195,000 after purchasing an additional 111,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 319.5% during the second quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 196,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,980,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $84.38 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $53.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $82.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.02. Sempra has a 1 year low of $66.40 and a 1 year high of $86.57.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced 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 net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.55.

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.