Commerce Bank Sells 2,108 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Commerce Bank decreased its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 59,382 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,108 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Sempra were worth $4,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Sempra by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 2.8% during the second quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 3.5% during the second quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Sempra by 1.6% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $731,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 4.0% during the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,794 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on SRE shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. 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 report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. One equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.00.

Sempra Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:SRE opened at $94.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.49. Sempra has a 12 month low of $66.40 and a 12 month high of $94.86. The company has a market capitalization of $59.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.86, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.