Cornerstone Advisors LLC Sells 5,400 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Cornerstone Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,400 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $2,982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in Sempra by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 29,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,240,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 4,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings 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 valued at $133,679,000 after acquiring an additional 289,731 shares in the last quarter. Bcwm LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bcwm LLC now owns 143,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,901,000 after acquiring an additional 6,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 420.0% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 4,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 3,570 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Up 0.8 %

Sempra stock opened at $83.60 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.60. Sempra has a 12 month low of $63.75 and a 12 month high of $84.29. The company has a market capitalization of $52.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. Bank of America started coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Sempra from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on Sempra from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH decreased their price target 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 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.00.

About Sempra

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.