Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Decreases Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd cut its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 49,825 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,445 shares during the quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Sempra were worth $4,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra in the third quarter valued at $1,164,000. PDS Planning Inc lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 33.6% in the 3rd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 3,519 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Sempra by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Sempra by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 304,821 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,492,000 after purchasing an additional 8,069 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its position in Sempra by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,520,432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,154,000 after purchasing an additional 92,465 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Performance

Sempra stock opened at $82.22 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.93. The company has a market cap of $52.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.41. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $66.40 and a fifty-two week high of $86.57.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 22.31%. The business’s revenue was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SRE. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of 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 assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.55.

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.