Pacer Advisors Inc. Increases Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,293 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $7,865,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its position in Sempra by 250.0% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on SRE. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America began coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.00.

Sempra Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of SRE stock opened at $94.27 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Sempra has a 1-year low of $66.40 and a 1-year high of $95.29. The firm has a market cap of $59.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.