Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Sells 29,706 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lessened its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,939,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 29,706 shares during the period. Sempra accounts for approximately 1.9% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $162,185,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,324,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,870,591,000 after acquiring an additional 128,847 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,774,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,026 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,587,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,653 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position 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 valued at $1,023,228,000 after purchasing an additional 874,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Sempra by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,335,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $362,564,000 after buying an additional 125,833 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE opened at $89.60 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $56.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.74, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a 12-month low of $66.40 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.80.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued 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). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.