Advisors Asset Management Inc. Sells 25,022 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 37.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,401 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 25,022 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Sempra were worth $3,632,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SRE. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Sempra by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,587,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,653 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Sempra by 4.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,774,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at about $123,614,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Sempra by 201.2% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,394 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $51,882,000 after purchasing an additional 414,406 shares during the period. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in Sempra during the third quarter worth about $33,023,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of SRE traded down $0.96 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $69.30. 4,370,819 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,352,606. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $64.89 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $78.23 and a 200-day moving average of $83.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

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Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. This is a boost from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, Director Cynthia J. Warner purchased 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 8,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This trade represents a 8.69 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 in the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $77.00 target price (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group lowered Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays downgraded Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.58.

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.