Larson Financial Group LLC Lowers Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Larson Financial Group LLC reduced its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 16.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 998 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Sempra during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 250.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.00.

Sempra Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $93.28 on Wednesday. Sempra has a 12-month low of $66.40 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $86.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.75.

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). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Sempra’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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 of this dividend 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.