Advisor Resource Council Grows Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Advisor Resource Council boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,867 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the period. Sempra comprises 0.9% of Advisor Resource Council’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Advisor Resource Council’s holdings in Sempra were worth $2,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Sempra in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, SouthState Corp lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 900.0% during the second quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.55.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $88.26 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.00. Sempra has a 52-week low of $66.40 and a 52-week high of $88.59. The stock has a market cap of $55.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.46.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.99%.

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.