Woodline Partners LP Takes $3.34 Million Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 38,038 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,337,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 265.2% in the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on SRE shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Argus downgraded Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sempra has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.62.

Sempra Stock Down 1.8%

SRE traded down $1.44 on Wednesday, hitting $77.47. The company had a trading volume of 3,124,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,748,971. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63. Sempra has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 26th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael N. Mears acquired 1,000 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $67.70 per share, for a total transaction of $67,700.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $338,500. This trade represents a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $595,193.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,260,117.94. This trade represents a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have acquired 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

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.