Yousif Capital Management LLC Has $7.43 Million Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Yousif Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 99,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,968 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $7,428,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 118.6% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,279,000 after purchasing an additional 10,198 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the third quarter worth approximately $218,000. Park Place Capital Corp increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 1,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 106.9% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 98.2% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,287 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total value of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total value of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 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 value of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,292,105.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 156,622 shares of company stock valued at $11,089,713. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on SRE shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started 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. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.14.

Sempra Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of SRE opened at $72.04 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.54 billion, a PE ratio of 15.04, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.71. Sempra has a 12 month low of $63.75 and a 12 month high of $79.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $70.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.77%.

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.