First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Grows Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 38.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 28,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,823 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $2,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra by 2.8% in the second quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC grew 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 valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Sempra by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $731,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Sempra by 4.0% in the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,794 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $83.53 on Thursday. Sempra has a 1-year low of $66.40 and a 1-year high of $86.57. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released 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). Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target 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 research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.55.

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.