Huntington National Bank Sells 263 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Huntington National Bank lowered its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 76,576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 263 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Sempra were worth $6,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Sempra in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in Sempra in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its holdings in Sempra by 250.0% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra in the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the second quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

Sempra stock opened at $90.44 on Friday. Sempra has a 1-year low of $66.40 and a 1-year high of $93.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.28 billion, a PE ratio of 19.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.69.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SRE. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Evercore ISI raised 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective 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. One 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.00.

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.