Prudent Man Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Prudent Man Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,675 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,773 shares during the period. Prudent Man Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $893,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,878,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $157,091,000 after buying an additional 6,700 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 6.8% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 31,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,649,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 35.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 594,683 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,733,000 after acquiring an additional 156,397 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 9.7% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $899,000 after acquiring an additional 951 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 2.2% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 21,519 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,800,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

SRE opened at $92.19 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $58.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a fifty day moving average of $84.52 and a 200 day moving average of $80.02. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $66.40 and a fifty-two week high of $93.12.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. 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 for the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.00.

Sempra 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.