Wexford Capital LP Lowers Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Wexford Capital LP reduced its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 54.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,123 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 20,254 shares during the period. Wexford Capital LP's holdings in Sempra were worth $1,502,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. Barclays downgraded 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 research note on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group downgraded Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $87.00 price objective on Sempra and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.62.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, Director Michael N. Mears acquired 1,000 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $67.70 per share, with a total value of $67,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $338,500. This represents a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,759 shares in the company, valued at $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Sempra Trading Up 1.3%

SRE stock traded up $0.96 during trading on Friday, hitting $77.71. 3,272,360 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,747,338. Sempra has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The company has a 50-day moving average of $72.30 and a 200-day moving average of $80.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.66 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share 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 given a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.