Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Increases Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 4.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 276,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,720 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $23,161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $64,994,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 6.9% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,452,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,023,228,000 after buying an additional 874,133 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP increased its position in Sempra by 96.9% during the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,636,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $117,528,000 after acquiring an additional 805,084 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the first quarter valued at $42,630,000. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 1st quarter worth about $27,338,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE opened at $80.81 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.85. The company has a market capitalization of $51.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.75. Sempra has a 12-month low of $66.40 and a 12-month high of $86.57.

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

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on SRE. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America began coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.55.

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.