Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,637,235 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 148,396 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.26% of Sempra worth $136,922,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Sempra during the 1st quarter valued at about $815,000. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,293,000. Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 13.7% in the first 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 lifted its position in Sempra by 249.9% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 155,854 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,195,000 after buying an additional 111,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd grew its holdings in Sempra by 319.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 196,954 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,980,000 after buying an additional 150,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.
Several research firms have recently commented on SRE. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.00.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Sempra
SRE opened at $91.25 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $83.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.21. Sempra has a 12-month low of $66.40 and a 12-month high of $91.88. The firm has a market cap of $57.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.10, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.
Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.01% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.
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.
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