Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Stake Boosted by Yaupon Capital Management LP

Yaupon Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 78.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 318,146 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 139,467 shares during the quarter. Sempra comprises approximately 1.2% of Yaupon Capital Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Yaupon Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.05% of Sempra worth $27,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 633.4% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,624,000 after acquiring an additional 25,838 shares during the last quarter. L & S Advisors Inc raised its stake in Sempra by 52.6% during the fourth quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 41,601 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,649,000 after purchasing an additional 14,338 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $286,695,000 after purchasing an additional 278,183 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,071,091 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $93,956,000 after buying an additional 26,821 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 9,479 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $831,000 after buying an additional 990 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.54.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 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 Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:SRE traded up $0.23 on Friday, reaching $74.75. The stock had a trading volume of 4,122,952 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,721,994. The company has a 50-day moving average of $71.33 and a 200 day moving average of $81.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $48.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. Sempra has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is 58.37%.

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.