W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co Sells 798 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co trimmed its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 798 shares during the period. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co’s holdings in Sempra were worth $417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the first quarter worth about $2,293,000. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 319.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 196,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,980,000 after buying an additional 150,000 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 135,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,315,000 after buying an additional 12,346 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 171.6% during the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 10,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $753,000 after acquiring an additional 6,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TCW Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 28.2% during the 2nd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 67,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,154,000 after acquiring an additional 14,890 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $92.92 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $84.72 and its 200 day moving average is $80.16. Sempra has a one year low of $66.40 and a one year high of $93.21. 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 company has a market capitalization of $58.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued 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). Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America began coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.00.

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.