Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Purchased by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE – Get Rating) by 25.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,092 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. ClearBridge Investments Ltd acquired a new position in Sempra in the first quarter worth $130,223,000. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Sempra by 154.6% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 876,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $131,680,000 after purchasing an additional 532,093 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra by 75.8% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,046,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $156,953,000 after purchasing an additional 451,191 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Sempra by 22.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,287,516 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $384,577,000 after buying an additional 416,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in Sempra by 1.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,800,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,825,114,000 after buying an additional 305,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.75% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $157.99 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $49.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. Sempra has a 52-week low of $129.69 and a 52-week high of $176.47. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.51.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.18. Sempra had a return on equity of 10.86% and a net margin of 16.13%. The firm had revenue of $3.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 8.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 22nd were issued a $1.145 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 21st. This represents a $4.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on SRE. TheStreet upgraded Sempra from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, December 2nd. Guggenheim cut their target price on Sempra from $174.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Monday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Sempra from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $153.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 15th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $173.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.11.

Sempra Profile

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Sempra operates as an energy-services holding company in the United States and internationally. The company's San Diego Gas & Electric Company segment provides electric services; and supplies natural gas. It offers electric services to approximately 3.6 million population and natural gas services to approximately 3.3 million population that covers 4,100 square miles.