Partners Group Holding AG Has $22.46 Million Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Partners Group Holding AG cut its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 16.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 255,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 48,727 shares during the period. Sempra comprises about 0.8% of Partners Group Holding AG’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Partners Group Holding AG’s holdings in Sempra were worth $22,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 25,838 shares in the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Sempra by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $286,695,000 after purchasing an additional 278,183 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $675,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Sempra by 2.6% in 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 buying an additional 26,821 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $69.56 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.58. Sempra has a 1 year low of $64.89 and a 1 year high of $95.77. 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 company has a market capitalization of $45.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. The company 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%. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on SRE shares. UBS Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho decreased 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, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.58.

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.