Chesapeake Capital Corp IL Sells 4,504 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Chesapeake Capital Corp IL trimmed its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 56.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,516 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 4,504 shares during the quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL's holdings in Sempra were worth $308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 265.2% during 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 period. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Sempra by 225.6% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lowered Sempra from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $77.00 price target (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of 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 note on Wednesday, February 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.58.

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Sempra Stock Performance

SRE traded down $0.44 on Friday, hitting $69.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,235,223 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,352,476. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $78.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.58. 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 12 month low of $64.89 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The firm has a market cap of $45.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. This is an increase from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, Director Pablo Ferrero purchased 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,110,453.04. The trade was a 19.92 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.