Yousif Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 98,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,477 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $8,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. FMR LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 9.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,587,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,653 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Sempra by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,774,974,000 after buying an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in Sempra by 201.2% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,882,000 after buying an additional 414,406 shares in the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA bought a new stake in Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,023,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 38.3% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,420,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $118,219,000 after acquiring an additional 393,277 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $82.30 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $86.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.13, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a one year low of $66.40 and a one year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.20.

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.