Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Buys 32,712 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 252,226 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,712 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Sempra were worth $19,184,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 2.8% in the second quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its position in Sempra by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra by 3.4% during the first quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in shares of Sempra by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 38,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,854,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH decreased their target price on Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Sempra from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.36.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $81.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 679,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,925,331. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.46. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $78.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.50. Sempra has a 1-year low of $63.75 and a 1-year high of $83.68. The company has a market cap of $51.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.12, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.74.

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

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.