Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP Purchases 83,200 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,214,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 83,200 shares during the period. Sempra makes up approximately 2.8% of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP’s holdings in Sempra were worth $90,731,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Monetary Management Group Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in Sempra by 100.0% during the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 85.6% in the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,403,888.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Sempra news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 122,432 shares of company stock worth $8,668,035 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Down 0.1 %

SRE traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $75.12. 446,834 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,943,917. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $70.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.86. Sempra has a 1-year low of $63.75 and a 1-year high of $78.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. Sempra’s revenue was down 44.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SRE. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sempra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.23.

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.