Janus Henderson Group PLC Has $227.05 Million Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 7.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,715,058 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 190,665 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned 0.43% of Sempra worth $227,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,963 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $731,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,794 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 12,558 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $955,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 4,184 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SRE. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.91.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE traded down $0.52 on Wednesday, hitting $91.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,415,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,919,275. The stock's 50-day moving average is $87.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.60. Sempra has a 12 month low of $66.40 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $57.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52.

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

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.