National Bank of Canada FI Has $51.88 Million Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 201.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 620,394 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 414,406 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.10% of Sempra worth $51,882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 13,759 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,047,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Mechanics Bank Trust Department increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 2.6% in the second quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department now owns 9,740 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $741,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 8.9% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 120,594 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,172,000 after purchasing an additional 9,863 shares during the period. Finally, D.B. Root & Company LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 44.4% during the 2nd quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 4,628 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,423 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on SRE. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. 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 report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.91.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE traded down $1.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $89.60. The company had a trading volume of 3,265,220 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,186,882. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $56.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.77. Sempra has a twelve month low of $66.40 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The company's 50-day moving average is $87.56 and its 200-day moving average is $81.80.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.63%.

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.