Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by M&G Plc

M&G PLC lowered its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 3.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 773,821 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 28,988 shares during the period. M&G PLC owned about 0.12% of Sempra worth $65,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in Sempra during the second quarter worth $30,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra during the second quarter worth $33,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra in the second quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, SouthState Corp grew its holdings in Sempra by 900.0% in the second quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.00.

Sempra Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of SRE traded up $1.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $89.76. The company had a trading volume of 5,085,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,891,013. Sempra has a 1-year low of $66.40 and a 1-year high of $90.16. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $83.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.00. The stock has a market cap of $56.83 billion, a PE ratio of 19.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.17). Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 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 given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.99%.

About Sempra

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.