Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Coastline Trust Co

Coastline Trust Co trimmed its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,478 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 760 shares during the quarter. Coastline Trust Co’s holdings in Sempra were worth $1,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the third quarter worth $28,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Sempra in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its stake in Sempra by 250.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Up 1.9 %

Sempra stock opened at $92.19 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $84.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $93.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SRE shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America started coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.