FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Sells 174 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH cut its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 174 shares during the quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Sempra were worth $442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Sempra by 2.8% in the second quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 2.8% during the second quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 137 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 4.0% during 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 lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 1.2% in the second quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 12,558 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $82.16 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.14. Sempra has a one year low of $66.40 and a one year high of $84.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.22, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its 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). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 22.31%. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.