Toronto Dominion Bank Purchases 82,306 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 41.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 279,944 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 82,306 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank's holdings in Sempra were worth $23,412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 250.0% in the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the second quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SRE. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America initiated coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $91.60.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

SRE stock traded up $1.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $89.17. 2,766,640 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,932,512. Sempra has a one year low of $66.40 and a one year high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $87.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.06. 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 (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra's payout ratio is 54.63%.

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.