Portfolio Design Labs LLC Sells 23,225 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Portfolio Design Labs LLC trimmed its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 53.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,183 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 23,225 shares during the period. Portfolio Design Labs LLC's holdings in Sempra were worth $1,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,452,912 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,023,228,000 after purchasing an additional 874,133 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its holdings in Sempra by 96.9% during the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,636,202 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $117,528,000 after purchasing an additional 805,084 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,338,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $23,056,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Sempra by 19.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,757,553 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $133,679,000 after acquiring an additional 289,731 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on SRE. Barclays raised their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America initiated coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.00.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE SRE traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $93.12. 2,289,183 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,898,519. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Sempra has a 1 year low of $66.40 and a 1 year high of $93.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.30. The company has a market cap of $58.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.75.

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 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 business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra's payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

Sempra Company 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.