Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Greystone Financial Group LLC

Greystone Financial Group LLC reduced its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 11.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 121,358 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 16,055 shares during the quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC's holdings in Sempra were worth $8,660,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 8,194 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $719,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,585 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 6,195 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,639 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 price target on shares of Sempra and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Argus cut shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.75.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, Director Pablo Ferrero purchased 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,110,453.04. This trade represents a 19.92% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $595,193.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,260,117.94. The trade was a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Sempra stock traded up $0.14 on Thursday, reaching $76.12. 2,698,194 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,781,305. Sempra has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The company has a market cap of $49.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.64. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $74.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.72.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.12. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.70%.

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.