Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. Boosts Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. increased its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 19.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,059,155 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 172,489 shares during the period. Sempra accounts for approximately 1.2% of Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. owned about 0.17% of Sempra worth $92,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. 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 research note on Wednesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.54.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 8,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. The trade was a 8.69 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Sempra Trading Up 0.1 %

Sempra stock traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $74.62. The company had a trading volume of 1,966,649 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,706,557. 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 firm has a market cap of $48.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $71.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.18. Sempra has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra's payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

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.