Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Cinctive Capital Management LP

Cinctive Capital Management LP lowered its holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 183,086 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 7,222 shares during the quarter. Sempra makes up 0.8% of Cinctive Capital Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Cinctive Capital Management LP's holdings in Sempra were worth $16,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 25,838 shares in the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position 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 worth $286,695,000 after acquiring an additional 278,183 shares in the last quarter. L & S Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 52.6% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in Sempra during the third quarter valued at about $675,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total value of $343,114.91. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,408,786.94. This trade represents a 19.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company's stock, valued at $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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. Argus cut Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group lowered shares of Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets dropped 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and set a $77.00 price objective (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Five 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.com, Sempra has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.33.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE traded down $2.80 during trading on Monday, reaching $63.08. 4,067,287 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,506,729. The stock has a market cap of $41.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.89, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $75.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. This is a positive change from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.