Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Trims Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,269,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 47,046 shares during the quarter. Sempra comprises 1.8% of Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned approximately 0.68% of Sempra worth $324,769,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 2.8% during the second quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its position in Sempra by 3.5% in the second quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 3.4% during the first quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 38,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,854,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Sempra by 4.0% in the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,794 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on SRE. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Mizuho increased their target price on Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on Sempra from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Sempra from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH decreased their price objective on Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $82.09 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Sempra has a 12-month low of $63.75 and a 12-month high of $84.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $79.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.93%.

Sempra Company 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.