Burford Brothers Inc. Boosts Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Burford Brothers Inc. increased its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 29.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,253 shares during the quarter. Burford Brothers Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in Sempra by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 674 shares during the period. Bull Oak Capital LLC purchased a new position in Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at about $423,000. Spirit of America Management Corp NY increased its position in Sempra by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 12,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,008,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management increased its position in Sempra by 152.0% during the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 50,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,185,000 after purchasing an additional 30,178 shares during the period. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at about $81,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on SRE. Evercore ISI raised 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.55.

Sempra Stock Performance

SRE opened at $84.38 on Friday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $82.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.02. Sempra has a 1 year low of $66.40 and a 1 year high of $86.57. The stock has a market cap of $53.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted 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 net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 52.99%.

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.