Advisors Asset Management Inc. Trims Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 29.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 66,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 27,418 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $5,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,452,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,023,228,000 after acquiring an additional 874,133 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 96.9% during the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,636,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $117,528,000 after purchasing an additional 805,084 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the first quarter valued at $27,338,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the second quarter worth about $23,056,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Sempra by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,757,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $133,679,000 after buying an additional 289,731 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $94.69 on Friday. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $66.40 and a fifty-two week high of $94.86. The company has a market cap of $59.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.75. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.49.

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

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on SRE. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.00.

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.