Raymond James Trust N.A. Purchases 1,600 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,651,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Sempra in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Sempra during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in Sempra during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of SRE stock opened at $94.27 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.69. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $95.29. The stock has a market cap of $59.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its 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). The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays increased 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus 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.