Advisors Asset Management Inc. Reduces Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 29.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 27,418 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Sempra were worth $5,555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 11.9% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 29,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,145,000 after buying an additional 3,165 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Sempra by 8.3% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,034 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $649,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra by 26.5% in the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,874 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. grew its position in Sempra by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 3,537 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the period. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra during the 1st quarter valued at $96,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on SRE. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of Sempra stock traded down $0.42 on Friday, hitting $94.27. 2,515,737 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,895,260. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $95.29. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business's revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.