Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 5,384 Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 5,384 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $384,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SRE. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $29,880,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,812 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,036,000 after acquiring an additional 1,068 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 61.9% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 19,568 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,717,000 after acquiring an additional 7,481 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 9,204 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $807,000 after acquiring an additional 2,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $160,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $343,114.91. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,408,786.94. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $595,193.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on SRE shares. Barclays lowered Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 price target on Sempra and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group cut Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.75.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE stock traded down $2.29 during trading on Friday, reaching $73.94. 3,855,147 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,792,178. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Sempra has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $74.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.46. The company has a market capitalization of $48.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is presently 56.70%.

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.