Jump Financial LLC Sells 10,218 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Jump Financial LLC lowered its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 63.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,800 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 10,218 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC's holdings in Sempra were worth $509,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra by 265.2% during the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SRE. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lowered shares of Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group lowered 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, Sempra has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.54.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $75.78. 401,514 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,714,376. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.40 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. 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's 50 day moving average price is $71.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.09.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $0.645 dividend. This is a boost from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is 58.37%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Pablo Ferrero bought 2,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $70.96 per share, for a total transaction of $184,496.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,110,453.04. The trade was a 19.92 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner purchased 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra 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.