OneAscent Wealth Management LLC Takes $261,000 Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

OneAscent Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 3,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its position in Sempra by 250.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on SRE shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.00.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $92.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $84.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.16. Sempra has a one year low of $66.40 and a one year high of $93.21. The stock has a market cap of $58.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 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 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 54.63%.

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.