PharVision Advisers LLC Takes $384,000 Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,382 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $384,000.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.62.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Pablo Ferrero acquired 2,600 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,453.04. This represents a 19.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This trade represents a 8.69% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 over the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE SRE traded up $0.96 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $77.71. 3,272,360 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,754,874. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $72.30 and a 200-day moving average of $79.94. Sempra has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $50.66 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

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

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.