Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Yousif Capital Management LLC

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 99,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,968 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $7,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PrairieView Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 85.6% during the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.50 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. StockNews.com cut Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total transaction of $360,586.86. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,403,888.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 5,158 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $367,301.18. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 43,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,063,739.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total value of $360,586.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,403,888.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 156,622 shares of company stock valued at $11,089,713 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $72.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.54. Sempra has a one year low of $63.75 and a one year high of $79.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $70.50 and its 200-day moving average is $71.66.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 51.77%.

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.