Cinctive Capital Management LP Acquires Shares of 190,308 Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Cinctive Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 190,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,915,000. Sempra makes up approximately 0.9% of Cinctive Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SRE. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Sempra by 266.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 117,211 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,419,000 after buying an additional 85,254 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 114.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 29,112 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,091,000 after purchasing an additional 15,542 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Sempra by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Sempra by 59.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,018 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBW Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Sempra in the second quarter worth $201,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America started coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.00.

Sempra Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $93.67 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.33. The stock has a market cap of $59.33 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a 12 month low of $66.40 and a 12 month high of $95.77.

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

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.63%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.