Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Invests $208,000 in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 2,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Sempra by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 12,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,013,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Holistic Financial Partners bought a new stake in Sempra during the third quarter worth $211,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra in the 3rd quarter valued at $81,000. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its stake in Sempra by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 5,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Phillips Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth $200,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE:SRE traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $92.30. 137,793 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,890,693. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $93.12. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $58.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Sempra Announces Dividend

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 issued 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 is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.