Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC Invests $866,000 in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 10,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $866,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra by 2.8% in the second quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC increased its position in Sempra by 3.5% in the second quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Sempra by 4.0% in the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,794 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Finally, Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich raised its holdings in Sempra by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 12,558 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.20.

Sempra Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE SRE opened at $81.33 on Friday. Sempra has a one year low of $66.40 and a one year high of $84.47. 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 cap of $51.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $81.58 and its 200-day moving average is $77.06.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.03). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 22.31%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.99%.

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.