Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP Sells 31,335 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP trimmed its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 55.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Sempra by 633.4% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,624,000 after purchasing an additional 25,838 shares during the period. L & S Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Sempra by 52.6% during the fourth quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 41,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,649,000 after purchasing an additional 14,338 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Sempra by 8.8% during the third 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 period. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Sempra by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,071,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,956,000 after purchasing an additional 26,821 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Sempra by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 9,479 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $831,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE SRE opened at $75.63 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.41. Sempra has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $49.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.70%.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, Director Pablo Ferrero bought 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,110,453.04. This trade represents a 19.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael N. Mears bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $67.70 per share, for a total transaction of $67,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $338,500. The trade was a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on SRE. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays downgraded Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.77.

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.