Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Purchased by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,092 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its holdings in Sempra by 250.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in Sempra in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Sempra stock opened at $93.28 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $59.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.97. Sempra has a 1 year low of $66.40 and a 1 year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released 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). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SRE shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America started coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.00.

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.