Avestar Capital LLC Has $719,000 Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Avestar Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 9.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 711 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its stake in Sempra by 250.0% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of SRE opened at $93.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.75. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $86.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.97.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted 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 $1.05 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 net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. Sempra’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a 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 boosted their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company 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.