2,671 Shares in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Purchased by Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd.

Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 2,671 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 250.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 225.6% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 180.4% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $71.99 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $83.43 and a 200-day moving average of $84.75. Sempra has a 1 year low of $64.89 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $45.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 56.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their target price on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.54.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.