SCP Investment LP Makes New $596,000 Investment in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

SCP Investment LP acquired a new stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 6,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $596,000. Sempra accounts for approximately 0.5% of SCP Investment LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC increased its stake in Sempra by 265.2% in the 4th 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 Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 225.6% during 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 owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $69.65 on Friday. Sempra has a 12 month low of $64.89 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.13.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, Director Pablo Ferrero bought 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,453.04. This represents a 19.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho cut their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.33.

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.