LifeSteps Financial Inc. Invests $214,000 in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. SouthState Corp boosted its stake in Sempra by 900.0% in the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the period. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sempra during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Up 0.0 %

SRE stock traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $85.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 731,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,849,232. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $81.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.46. Sempra has a 12 month low of $66.40 and a 12 month high of $85.92. The company has a market capitalization of $53.98 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted 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 business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 54.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on SRE shares. Bank of America started coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.20.

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.