Hudson Bay Capital Management LP Reduces Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Hudson Bay Capital Management LP trimmed its stake in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 24.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,536 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 24,464 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP's holdings in Sempra were worth $6,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 265.2% in the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This trade represents a 8.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on SRE. Argus downgraded shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Mizuho dropped their price target on 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 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 report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.77.

Sempra Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of SRE stock traded up $1.60 on Thursday, reaching $76.46. 2,895,745 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,734,552. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $49.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $71.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.33. Sempra has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.90 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.