Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 21,653 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 23.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,396 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 21,653 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Sempra were worth $6,351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Sempra by 173.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 209,735 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $15,952,000 after buying an additional 133,085 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in Sempra by 16.8% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 78,726 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,988,000 after acquiring an additional 11,303 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Sempra by 5.6% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 27,684 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,106,000 after acquiring an additional 1,463 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Sempra by 3.6% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,146 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Sempra by 0.3% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 117,597 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,944,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Sempra stock traded up $1.36 during trading on Thursday, reaching $83.34. 2,189,228 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,169,369. Sempra has a 1 year low of $66.40 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The firm has a market cap of $52.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock's fifty day moving average is $87.06 and its 200 day moving average is $84.27.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). The business 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%. Sempra's quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SRE. Morgan Stanley raised Sempra from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $91.20.

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.