Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 2,441 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,441 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SRE. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 263.1% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 11,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $835,000 after purchasing an additional 8,422 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 11.9% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 29,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,145,000 after acquiring an additional 3,165 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 8.3% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $649,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in Sempra by 26.5% during the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,874 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pitcairn Co. increased its holdings in Sempra by 20.5% during the 1st quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 3,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.00.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE stock opened at $93.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $59.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $84.94 and its 200 day moving average is $80.30. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $93.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued 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 yield of 2.66%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Sempra Company 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.