Cypress Capital Group Takes Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Cypress Capital Group acquired a new position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $241,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 6.9% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,452,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,023,228,000 after buying an additional 874,133 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in Sempra by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 2,404,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $182,158,000 after acquiring an additional 48,592 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 6,700 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,840,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $153,952,000 after purchasing an additional 63,000 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,757,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $133,679,000 after purchasing an additional 289,731 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.00.

Sempra Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE:SRE opened at $94.69 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.49. Sempra has a 52-week low of $66.40 and a 52-week high of $94.86. The company has a market cap of $59.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.86, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.75. 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 (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 54.63%.

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.