1,034 Shares in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Acquired by Ashton Thomas Securities LLC

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $86,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 1st quarter worth about $2,293,000. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 319.5% in the second quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 196,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,980,000 after acquiring an additional 150,000 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 40.8% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 43,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,092,000 after acquiring an additional 12,468 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Sempra by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 135,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,315,000 after acquiring an additional 12,346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 171.6% during the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 10,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $753,000 after purchasing an additional 6,620 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America assumed 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. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.00.

Sempra Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:SRE opened at $92.23 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a 12-month low of $66.40 and a 12-month high of $92.66. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

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.