PFG Investments LLC Buys Shares of 3,602 Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

PFG Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 3,602 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SRE. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Sempra in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, SouthState Corp boosted its holdings in Sempra by 900.0% in the second quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $83.53 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $83.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.47. Sempra has a 52-week low of $66.40 and a 52-week high of $86.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 22.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.78 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. Sempra’s payout ratio is 52.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. Barclays increased their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. One investment 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.55.

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.