Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP Lowers Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP lowered its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 55.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,445 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 31,335 shares during the period. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP's holdings in Sempra were worth $2,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 265.2% during the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $595,193.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,969 shares of the company's stock, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. The trade was a 8.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sempra Stock Up 2.1%

NYSE SRE traded up $1.60 on Thursday, hitting $76.46. The stock had a trading volume of 2,895,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,733,272. The business's fifty day moving average price is $71.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Sempra has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $49.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.12. The firm 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 3.37%. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays downgraded shares of Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.77.

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.