Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 5,476 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Pacer Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,476 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $5,534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 41.0% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 2,136 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 6.0% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 3,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 7.4% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 15,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,198,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 1.6% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,659,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,246,000 after purchasing an additional 26,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 8.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 40,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,083,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $84.06 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Sempra has a 1-year low of $63.75 and a 1-year high of $84.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $80.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.05.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.03). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 22.31%. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Sempra from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. 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 MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.00.

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.