Procyon Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 23.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 74,151 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 14,169 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC's holdings in Sempra were worth $5,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Sempra by 289.2% in the 1st quarter. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 26,370 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,881,000 after purchasing an additional 19,595 shares in the last quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 18,521 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,322,000 after purchasing an additional 1,585 shares during the period. Generali Investments Management Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 80.7% in the first quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC now owns 34,322 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,449,000 after buying an additional 15,332 shares in the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Sempra in the 1st quarter valued at about $373,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in Sempra by 24.9% during the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 8,038 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $574,000 after buying an additional 1,603 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the insider now owns 16,969 shares in the company, valued at $1,260,117.94. The trade was a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total value 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. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 8,619 shares of company stock valued at $602,221. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Argus cut Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.75.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $76.82. 2,882,702 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,772,379. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.22. The company has a market cap of $50.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.92, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.64.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share 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%. The company's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra's payout ratio 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.