Huntington National Bank Sells 263 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Huntington National Bank trimmed its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 0.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 263 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Sempra were worth $6,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Sempra by 24.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $711,000 after acquiring an additional 1,970 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 10,510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $755,000 after buying an additional 832 shares in the last quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC now owns 23,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,723,000 after buying an additional 1,880 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new stake in Sempra in the first quarter valued at about $648,000. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new position in Sempra in the first quarter valued at about $64,994,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.00.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $90.44 on Friday. Sempra has a twelve month low of $66.40 and a twelve month high of $93.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.92, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $84.17 and its 200-day moving average is $79.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.